KOZHIKODE: Vadakara region in Kozhikode continued to be on the edge on Monday following violence between BJP and CPM workers. In the past two days, four houses of BJP and CPM leaders came under bomb attack, causing severe damage. However, no one was injured in the bomb-hurling incidents. The violence began last Tuesday after a country-made bomb was hurled at RSS-BJP local leader V K Nidin at Arakkilad under the Vadakara police station limit in the late night. The RSS leaders alleged CPM was behind the incident.
The next day, house of CPM Arakkilad local committee member Kanappalli Ramakrishnan came under bomb attack, leaving the area tense. Three more houses, which include two CPM workers and one RSS functionary, were also attacked using country made-bombs in the last two days, while one office office of Sevabharathi, run by the RSS, was also attacked by miscreants.
The Vadakara police have registered five cases and made a preventive arrest of five persons in connection with the incidents in the past two days.
Hartal peaceful
The BJP called a hartal in Vadakara constituency on Monday, in protest against attack. The 12-hour hartal was almost total and peaceful. Shops and private establishments remained closed, while private buses and auto-taxi services kept off the road. However, private vehicles were found plying. Functioning of schools and government offices was affected owing to thin attendance.
Though hartal supporters tried to disrupt vehicle movement by blocking roads in some areas, timely intervention of the police thwarted their attempts.
All-party meeting held
Kozhikode: An all-party peace meeting convened by Vadakara RDO V P Abdul Rehman held here on Monday condemned all incidents of violence. Representatives of various political parties urged the police to conduct effective investigation into the incidents and book all the culprits. Vadakara DySP K P Chandran said the policing has been strengthened in the region and miscreants involved in the violence will be nabbed soon.
However, the police was criticised at the meeting. It was alleged that the police showed laxity in arresting the accused despite getting clear evidence. C K Nanu MLA, District panchayat member T K Rajan, Vadakara Municipal chairman K Sreedaran, Chorode panchayat president K K Nalini, and representatives of various political parties attended the meet.