THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after three IHRD students were held for setting the flag of ABVP in front of VTM NSS College at Dhanuvachapuram on fire, the CPM Smrithi mandapam at Dhanuvachapuram was found vandalised on Friday. The Parassala police registered a case and took two people into custody after inspecting the spot. The police said it could be retaliation by local BJP workers or due to personal vengeance. However, CPM district secretary Anavoor Nagappan said it was done by some anti-social elements and ruled out political motives.
According to police, they received the alert around 6am on Friday that the Smriti mandapam of CPM martyr Navakumar was found vandalised. The glass panes of the memorial were broken and CPM flags were found destroyed. The police reached the spot and collected evidence. Two DYFI leaders Abhijith and Vishnu, were taken into custody and they are being interrogated.
“This incident could be retaliation by local BJP workers or fallout of a personal vengeance between two groups. We are verifying whether it was a political confrontation. As part of it, two persons are in custody on suspicion. We are interrogating them and collecting evidence. However, no arrests have been recorded as we could not find evidence that they are guilty.
We will also verify the CCTV footage from the cameras which were installed near the spot,” said S Sujith, Parassala inspector of police. The Parassala police had on Thursday arrested three students of IHRD’s College of Applied Science, Dhanuvachapuram, for allegedly setting on fire the flag post of ABVP installed in front of VTM NSS College, vandalising the window glasses of two cars parked outside the college and damaging the CCTV cameras installed in front of the NSS Higher Secondary School. The arrested are Akhil, 20, of Vellarada, Abin, 21, of Elluvila and Salman, 20, of Kaliyikkavila.