KASARGOD: Suspected SDPI workers levelled the house of CPM leader KK Abdulla Kunhi using a backhoe at Kumbla in Kasaragod. Abdulla Kunhi said the attack was led by SDPI district president Abdul Salam. The house was a disputed property. Abdulla Kunhi, 57, his wife Rukhiya, 48, and son Abdul Raheem, 32, were assaulted when they tried to stop the attack on the house at Bambrana near Kumbla.
They are now admitted to Kumbla Cooperative Hospital.
Abdulla Kunhi, who was the former district secretary of the IUML and right-hand man of Cherkalam Abdulla Kunhi, joined the CPM four years ago. He is now a member of the district committee of CPM’s Karshaka Sangham. At the time of the attack, the tile-roofed house was unoccupied. He said his family moved to a relative’s house because his house was being renovated. “I was building two more rooms as our daughter is getting married next month,” he said.
Around 6.30am on Saturday, Abdulla Kunhi said SDPI leader Abdul Salam led a group of around 50 persons to his house and flattened it using a backhoe. He told Kumbla police that he and his family rushed to their house on hearing about the attack and when they tried to stop it, the gang assaulted them.
Despite several attempts, SDPI leader Abdul Salam could not be reached for comments.
Thirty years ago, Abdulla Kunhi said, his father took a loan of `4 lakh from a money lender in Kasaragod by pledging the title deed of the property of 50 cents. He said he paid back around `8 lakh. But the lender moved the high court for the entire 50 cents. In 2014, the court ruled in the money lender’s favour, said Abdulla Kunhi.
But when the police came to vacate the house, they faced resistance from the “local supporters” of Abdulla Kunhi. The same day, Abdulla Kunhi said an agreement was reached which allowed him to keep his house and 20 cents. As per the agreement, he will have to find the valuation of the remaining 30 cents and give the amount to the moneylender.
The police gave a report to the court that they could not vacate the house and Abdulla Kunhi, through his sisters, appealed against the verdict the same year. “Now after seven years, the moneylender hired SDPI goons and levelled the house,” Kunhi said. He has filed a complaint against Abdul Salam and others.