Seven die in Kerala communal violence

The ghosts of a year-old communal riot revisited and ripped apart a northern Kerala fishing village this evening. When a mob finished the ra...

The ghosts of a year-old communal riot revisited and ripped apart a northern Kerala fishing village this evening. When a mob finished the rampage at Marad beach in Kozhikode, seven persons had been killed and 11 injured, pushing the village to the edge.

According to the police, a group armed with lethal weapons started indiscriminate attack on people at the beach and inside shops around 6.30 p.m. The police have identified the victims as Gopalan, 50, Santhosh, 22, Chandran, Madhavan, 65, Pushparajan, 45, Krishnan and Askar, 25. In last January, the village had erupted in riots and five persons, belonging to both the communities, had been killed.

Kozhikode Revenue Divisional Officer P Balan said the situation has been brought under control. Strong contingents of police have been deployed in the area. Senior police officers are camping in the area. The RDO said the immediate provocation for the violence was not known.

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The Sangh Parivar outfits have called a state-wide hartal from 6 a.m to 6 p.m on Saturday in protest against the violent incidents at Marad. The hartal was called by the BJP, RSS and VHP. RSS State secretary A R Mohan today termed the violence at Marad was a clear evidence of growing terrorism in the State.

The organised attack on Hindus by Muslims without any provocation was to create a Kashmir-like situation, he said. This has to be taken very seriously and should be defeated by all peace-loving and democratically conscious people, he said. BJP state secretary P P Mukundan said the one-sided attack was pre-planned as all the people were killed in a similar way, he said.

National Conference (NC), National Conference (NC), Imran Nabi Dar, Rajya Sabha polls, Sat Sharma, People’s Conference, BJP, Indian express news, current affairs

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