In what appears to be the fallout of a festering CPM-BJP rivalry, a group of assailants hacked a DYFI leader to death at Brahmakulam near Guruvayur on Monday, bringing the spectre of political violence into the heart of the temple town after a brief hiatus.
According to police, the victim is Fazil, 22, son of Saleem, of Guruvayur. He was an SFI Manalur area committee member and DYFI Manalur area joint secretary. He was returning home on a bike from workplace around 7.30 pm when the gang that arrived on motor cycles blocked his way and attacked him with machetes and sharp-edged weapons. The gang also chased him down the road when he ran away and hacked him in the presence of a large number of people. The assailants then fled from the scene as the victim collapsed on the ground. Faizal suffered fatal injuries on his abdomen, chest and neck, the police said. Soon after the incident, the locals rushed him to the nearest private hospital. However, he succumbed to injuries at the hospital soon. According T G Dileep, sub inspector of Guruvayur police station, preliminary analysis has led the police to suspect that the assailants belong to the BJP.
Faizal was accused in two cases registered in the Guruvayur police station for attacking BJP activists. The police also suspect that the latest incident was in retaliation to earlier attacks against BJP workers, Dileep said. Scores of party supporters gathered at the spot as news about the murder of Faizal spread. A section of CPM workers who gathered on the spot raised slogans demanding the immediate arrest of the culprits behind the murder. The CPM also called for a hartal in Manalur constituency in Thrissur on Tuesday in protest against the attack.