Kerala: PFI leader killed in Palakkad, attackers’ car hints at revenge
A district committee member of the party, Subair, 44, was returning home after the Friday prayers when assailants targeted him. On November 15 last year, an RSS worker was killed at the same place in Palakkad district in a similar manner.
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The party blamed RSS-BJP workers for the murder, but the Sangh Parivar has not reacted to the allegation. (Facebook/Representational)A Popular Front of India (PFI) leader was hacked to death in front of his father in Kerala’s Palakkad district on Friday, police said.
A Subair, 44, the right-wing outfit’s Elappully area chief, was killed barely metres away from the local mosque in Elappully where he and his father, Aboobacker, had gone to offer the congregational Friday prayers, police said.
The PFI has blamed the killing on the BJP and its ideological mentor, the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh), an allegation the BJP leadership in Palakkad has denied.
In signs of a revenge killing, however, Palakkad Superintendent of Police P R Vishwanadh said the car abandoned by Subair’s killers was “prima facie” found registered in the name of slain RSS leader S Sanjith.
Sanjith was killed in the same area on November 15 last year, in a strikingly similar manner — by car-borne assailants, in front of his wife. The killing was blamed on the PFI and its political offshoot, the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), with the police chargesheeting 10 PFI-SDPI men in February this year.
Police said Subair and Aboobacker had just started for home on a bike when a car hit them. The assailants then hacked Subair multiple times and fled, leaving the car behind, the police added.
A local resident rushed Subair to the district hospital where he was declared dead.
Aboobacker, who is being treated for injuries at the hospital, told the police his son had political enmity with RSS members in the district.
SP Vishwanadh said: “However, at this stage, we cannot say whether it is a political murder or not. Only after effecting the arrest of the alleged accused, the motive behind the murder could be ascertained. Prima facie, the assailants seemed to have moved to the nearby state (Tamil Nadu).’’
PFI state president C P Muhammed Basheer has blamed the RSS, saying “the conspiracy behind the (Subair’s) murder is clear”.
“By killing a local PFI leader, RSS wants to foment communal trouble. During the Ram Navami celebration, RSS had unleashed attacks on Muslims. In Palakkad also they had issued provocative statements. RSS has targeted a person who came out of the mosque. Strong protest should be raised from all quarters against RSS terrorism,’’ he said.
Denying his party’s or the RSS involvement, BJP Palakkad district president K M Haridas said: “The murder is part of PFI-SDPI conspiracy to shatter the peace in the district. BJP workers have no role in it. We would not allow PFI-SDPI bid to foist the murder on Sangh Parivar organisations.’’
Meanwhile, police have sounded an alert across the state to prevent further retaliatory attacks or violence. SP Vishwanadh said special control rooms will be set up and night patrol intensified too.
In December last, BJP leader Ranjith Sreenivasan was killed in Alappuzha, barely 12 hours after the killing of SDPI leader K S Shan in the same district.
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