APPUZHA: The lawmakers have become mute spectators in the cold blooded murders which have been increasing in the district. Ten murders have taken place in the district in nine months and majority have been carried out by quotation gangs. An ironical fact is the murders have taken place in the district which is represented by four ministers and the opposition leader. Of the murders, six took place in the Haripad constituency represented by Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala.
The latest murder - that of Lijo, of Akamkudi, Pallipad - was one planned by a gang member. The reason being the rape of the wife of the gang leader. People allege the support of political leaders are the inspiration behind the heinous crimes. “Irrespective of political affiliations, the leaders seek the help of criminals for perpetuating their agenda. So the murders take place one after another,” said a social activist.
The police have constituted special squads to check the activities of the gooda-quotation gangs, but the efforts have turned futile. A special squad was formed at Haripad to prevent the activities of the quotations gangs and an outpost was setup at Karuvatta. Most modern equipments and facilities were allotted to the team, but the murders happened again under the Haripad police station limits. After each murder, the political leaders intervene on the actions of the police to protect the gangs. This leads to more number of crimes. Due to this we have been demanding to liberate the police forces from the nexus of political interventions, said a police officer.
The sixth murder happened at Haripad this year and the failure of Home Department is the reason for the increasing number of murders. The police takes action only when the murder happens, they have failed miserably to prevent these incidents from occuring— M Liju, DCC president
The political leaders should abstain from supporting goonda-quotation gangs. The support of the leaders is helping the gangs to conduct one crime after another
— K Soman, BJP district president