KASARAGOD: An activist of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) -- the youth front of the CPM -- was stabbed to death in clashes between workers of the CPM and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) in Kanhangad.
The deceased has been identified as Ouf Abdul Rahman (30) of Pazhaya Kadappuram in Kanhangad. IUML's ward secretary Irshad (32) was knifed and is seriously injured, said Hosdurg police. He is admitted to a hospital in Mangaluru.
The clashes broke out around 10.30 pm at Kalloravi (ward 37) of Kanhangad municipality.
Hosdurg station house officer said Abdul Rahman and three others were on their way to Bavanagar on two motorcycles when they saw a crowd at Kalloravi and tried to return.
But they were waylaid and attacked, said the inspector, quoting the first information received by the police. "This is what the first information from the complainants says. They do not explain how Irshad was injured," he said.
Residents took an injured Rahman to a private hospital in Kanhangad where he died. The condition of Irshad is also serious, said police.
Officers said the LDF and the IUML fought a tight election in Kalloravi, and on December 16, the counting day, violence broke out in the ward.
The IUML's candidate 'Seven Star' Abdul Rahman defeated the LDF's sitting councillor Mahamoud Muriyanavi.
Mahamoud was an IUML member. He resigned from the party and contested as an independent candidate in 2015 and won from Kalloravi, considered a bastion of the IUML.
This time, he was defeated by the IUML.
Soon after the result was out, suspected IUML workers attacked the house of Jaseela of Kalloravi.
They assaulted the family members, including women, and vandalised the home appliances.
The assaulters alleged that the victory margin of the IUML candidate dropped because several families voted for the LDF candidate.
Initially, the family did not press charge but when the video of the attack became viral on social media, the Hosdurg police launched an investigation and charged nine IUML workers for the assault and trespassing into the house, a non-bailable offence.
The visuals were captured and shared by IUML workers.
The workers INL, an ally of the CPM, had also attacked houses in the ward.
Kanhangad deputy superintendent of police M P Vinod said that it was not yet established that the violence on the counting day and Wednesday's murder were linked. "We are investigating the case," he said.
He said no party had informed him of a hartal in the town, but shops have not opened yet.