ALAPPUZHA: Fear has gripped the people in Alappuzha as quotation gangs are having a free run in the district. In the past few months, more than five persons were killed and several injured in brazen attacks by these gangs. The district crime record reveals that more than 100 cases of murder, assault and robbery were reported in the district in the last few months.
On April 12, a 28-year-old youth was hacked to death by a group at Kochalummmod near Mavelikkara following an argument. The victim, Destamon, of Anugraha Nagar, Vaadi, Kollam, who was riding a bike, noticed that the boot of the car, in which the gang members were travelling, was open, and informed them about this. However, they misconstrued his gesture for mockery which instigated them. Following this, they stopped his bike and hacked him to death. Another person Anishkumar, 45, of Nandanathil House, Kuravanthodu, Punnapra, was brutally murdered by a gang at Pazhaveed on March 23. The six-member gang attacked him following a tiff during the procession related to a temple festival at Pazhaveed.
A relative of Abhilash also suffered injuries in the attack and his house was ransacked by the assailants.
In another case, a BJP activist, Venugopal, 46, of Puthuvalveli House, Mannachery, was hacked to death by a quotation gang on January 29.
Venugopal was an accused in the Chandralal murder case and he was attacked while he was out on bail. Chandralal’s wife, sister and her daughter and some other quotation gang members were arrested in connection with the incident. In another incident, a KPMS activist Anilkumar, 40, Vadekkethil House, Pallippad, was killed on December 30.Many more incidents of house attacks and robbery were also reported from the district during the first quarter of 2015.
Gopinath, a resident of Valiyamaram, said the number of crimes involving quotation gangs is on the rise in the district.
Though Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala had declared that four police teams would be set up in the district to beef up patrolling, incidents of violence still continue unabated, he said.