Sangh protests activist’s murder

P Jayarajan, and on a day when BJP president Amit Shah and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat were in Kerala. Another RSS worker was injured in the attack.

Police have registered a case against six persons, two of them identified as Virkaman and Jithin, in connection with the murder. Suspected to be CPM workers, they hail from Koothuparamba region in Kannur. A special team headed by the ADGP (crime) would be constituted to probe the incident.

The BJP and the Congress blamed the CPM for Manoj’s murder. The CPM, in a press release from the Kannur district secretariat, said, “The RSS activist’s murder was unfortunate. The district secretariat clarifies that the party does not have any role in the incident.”

Senior BJP leader P K Krishnadas said that the party has asked its workers to remain calm. He said the CPM is worried about its workers joining the BJP. He alleged that the CPM national leadership was in the know of the murder, which was an attempt to shatter the peace in Kannur.

Pune: CPM office vandalised, right-wing groups suspected

A group of about 8 or 10 suspected members of right-wing organisations allegedly vandalised the CPM office in Pune and manhandled some office-bearers on Tuesday afternoon. According to witnesses, the attackers said they had come to avenge the murder of RSS leader E Manoj, who was hacked to death in Kannur district on Monday.

A senior Pune police officer said on the condition of anonymity, “We suspect these people were members of some right-wing organisation. We are yet to identify them.”

The attack on Tuesday between 2 pm and 2.30 pm took place in a building at Narayan Peth near Appa Balwant Chowk, housing offices of the CPM, Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and some other trade unions.

CPM office-bearer Satish Chavan, who was present said, “Around eight to 10 persons barged into the office. One of them came forward and said that they had come to take revenge for what was done to the RSS leader in Kerala. Another man said the same thing in Hindi. And then, one of them pulled down the glass on the table and started vandalising the office.”
An FIR has been filed against unidentified persons.

Rajnath to Chandy: act tough on political killings

New Delhi Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday raised concerns over the murder of an RSS activist in Kannur with Kerala CM Oommen Chandy. Rajnath, in a telephone conversation, reportedly asked Chandy to take strict action to stop political killings in the state. Singh called Chandy following the murder of RSS activist E Manoj. “The home minister has expressed concern over the murder of the activist and asked the Kerala CM to take strict action to stop such political killings,” an MHA official said.  ENS