2 detained for the murder of Kerala CPM worker in Palakkad

Last updated Aug 16, 2022 18

Two men have been detained in connection with the murder of a 40-year-old Communist Party of India (Marxist) worker K Shajahan in central Kerala’s Palakkad district on Sunday.

“We have taken two persons in custody in connection with the murder and got a definite lead about six others who directly participated in the crime. The real motive behind the crime can be established only after a detailed investigation,” said Palakkad district police superintendent R Viswanadh.

K Shajahan was killed by six people in the district’s Kottekad area, triggering a back and forth between the ruling CPM and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that accused each other of the crime.

The ruling CPI(M) said RSS-BJP workers were behind Shajahan’s murder. The BJP, which denied the charge put out photographs of some men who it said, were suspected to be involved in the murder and were CPM supporters

Shajahan’s family said the men who attacked him left the CPM a long time back after Shajahan was elected to the local committee and they often threatened him with dire consequences.

“He was killed by his former acquaintances. I never expected that my son will be betrayed like this,” said his mother S Sulekha. Another relative said one of the accused was Naveen who had threatened to kill Shajahan before August 15.

To be sure, a friend of Shajahan who was with him when the attack took place, claimed that the accused were CPM workers.

CPM district secretary EN Suresh Babu reiterated that the accused had been CPM workers in the past but had joined the BJP.

BJP leader C Krishnakumar dismissed the charge, saying an internal feud in the CPM appeared to have led to the party and the CPM was trying to pin the blame on Sangh Parivar outfits to divert attention.

Shajahan was one of the accused in the murder of BJP activist Aruchami in 2008.

Kerala’s opposition Congress also waded into the controversy. Kerala Congress president K Sudhakaran said it was inclined to believe that a CPM internal feud led to the murder.