PEYAD: Outward calm prevailed at Peyad, which has been witnessing violent incidents over the past several days, on Friday. The day seemed tension-free and there was nothing unusual on the surface.
The police also claimed that the situation was under control. But the local people of Peyad fear an outbreak of violence anytime. ‘’There is no problem on the surface. But as the BJP was obviously hurt by the attack on their worker, people fear that it would retaliate,” said a local man of Peyad.
However, the fingers of the 30-year-old BJP worker Vinod, which were chopped off in the clash, were stitched through a surgery at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital.
A tense situation has been prevailing in the area, ending up in a CPM-BJP clash at Peyad on Wednesday night. A hartal was observed by the BJP on Thursday in protest against the attack on their worker.
The clash was an outcome of a grudge that prevailed between the two groups, followed by the removal of the CPM’s flagpost at Peyad, allegedly by BJP workers.
The BJP took out a protest march on Wednesday night, which led to a clash when it met CPM workers. According to the police, some of the people of both the parties carried weapons and Vinod lost his fingers when somebody used them. There are 30 accused in the incident and seven of the accused, five belonging to the CPM and the rest to the BJP, have been arrested. The police are on the search for the remaining accused.
“Though the situation is under control, we have convened a meeting of the both the parties on Monday to prevent the chance of further outbreaks,” said Aryanad Circle Inspector N Nasarudheen. Though the police had convened a meeting on Thursday, it did not materialise owing to the clash.