KOLLAM: Sister of Bashir, the cassava seller who was killed after being stabbed by his neighbour at Chithara on Saturday, dismissed the CPM’s allegation it was a political murder. Afta Beevi, said Shajahan, 63, murdered Bashir after the latter refused to give him cassava, and there was no previous enmity between them, as alleged by the CPM.
Bashir was a CPM branch committee member and made a living by selling cassava in the local market. He was unmarried and lived along with his sister.
According to Beevi, Shahjahan picked up a quarrel with Bashir who refused to give him cassava. The local people intervened to stop the fight. But Shajahan met Bashir later and a scuffle ensued. He stabbed Bashir nine times.
The incident took a political turn with the local CPM leadership terming the murder to be a political one. The party observed a protest against the murder on Sunday.
However, the Congress alleged that the CPM was trying to convert a fight between the neighbours for political mileage. Police said Shajahan was a history-sheeter. Bashir was cremated at the burial ground of Kanoor mosque after post-mortem.
Shun violence, CPM tells Congress workers
T’Puram: CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has urged the Congress workers to shed violence to ensure peace in the state. He said the killing of A M Basheer, an elderly CPM worker at Chithara in Kollam, was not an isolated incident. “Basheer, a tapioca trader, was stabbed nine times on his chest. The Congress worker with criminal background who stabbed him was provoked by Basheer’s stand on public issues,” he said, adding that Basheer’s was the second murder committed by Congress workers in Kollam during the past two months.