BJP office attack: Councillor I P Binu gets life threat

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: CPM has arranged special protection for Kunnukuzhy councillor I.P. Binu after he received threats over the phone following the attack on BJP state committee office that comes under his ward. In a reminiscent of calls that CPM cadre V.V. Vishnu received before being murdered in 2008, the councillor has been receiving life threats by callers accusing him of supervising the attack.

Mr Binu says he fears nothing, and he would be the last person to encourage violence in his ward. On Friday, BJP district president S. Suresh had told reporters that former MLA V. Sivankutty and his henchman Binu were behind all violent activities that CPM undertakes in the district. Sources say around half a dozen supporters are protecting Mr Binu who has been asked not to travel at night. Cantonment police also said his house was under surveillance.

"It is not my style to throw a cracker at night into their office like a coward. At the moment, my party and I are more interested in having the attacker arrested than BJP. Mr Suresh should retract his statement," he said. The Cantonment police believes that the man who hurled a crude bomb into the premises was either hired or an anti-social who resides in Barton Hill colony.

Mr Binu has been on the radar of rivals as he was instrumental in organising strikes and protests in the city for CPM for the last decade. Meanwhile, power minister Kadakampally Surendran said he was unaware of any of his cadres receiving threats. "In the 80s there was a similar attack on BJP's state office and their own party man hailing from Karamana was arrested. He was ousted from his party and was later re-admitted. I am sure this is a similar incident," Mr Surendran told Deccan Chronicle.

‘Attacker could have been hired’

As CPM- BJP leaders continue their mudslinging over the attack on the BJP state committee office at Thiruvananthapuram, the city police on Saturday claimed it has inched closer to the suspect. "A few suspected people are under our surveillance. We are yet to zero in on a specific person. There is high chance that attacker, who hurled country bomb, could have been hired by individual party members. He could have been an anti-social who wanted to trigger a fight between parties as well," a senior city police official said.

"We exhaustive amount of CCTV footages from the area where attackers entered and exited," he added. "The usual modus operandi of party workers is to send reconnaissance team first. There will be a rider and the bomb will be hurled by the pillion rider. This is an act by a loner and it hints at possibility of less organised group in the crime," officials said. Around six teams under Commissioner Sparjan Kumar and Cantonment Asst. Commissioner K.E. Baiju are probing into the case.