RSS worker murder: Governor seeks action, Kannur on alert
The dawn-to-dusk hartal called by the BJP in Kannur and Mahe on Saturday was total and peaceful.
Thiruvananthapuram/Kannur: Even as the police has tightened security in the wake of the murder of RSS worker C. Biju in Kannur on Friday, Governor P. Sathasivam has asked Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to take immediate action to end the killings in the district. An additional force of 300 cops was deployed in the district to prevent any retaliation. The police also raided the houses of the suspected persons, said Taliparamba DySP K.V. Venugopal, who is in charge of the investigations. Cases were registered against nine people on the basis of the statements of Pandaravalappil Rajesh, who was riding along with Biju moments before the attack.
The police has checked the CCTV footages from the shops on the roadside, from where the pictures of the Innova car in which the attackers reached the spot were received.
Biju, 34, Choorakkad, Kakkampara, was the 12th accused in the murder of C.V. Dhanaraj, CPM village secretary and branch committee member, in July.
The dawn-to-dusk hartal called by the BJP in Kannur and Mahe on Saturday was total and peaceful.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who was in the district on Saturday, said that the investigation would be conducted without any political interference.
“The police will intensify the action to prevent bomb-making and raids would be continued against possession of weapons. Certain parties and organisations are trying to dominate religious places, which can’t be tolerated. Religious institutions should remain as centres for the believers,” he said after an all-party meeting here.
A three-member BJP delegation had called on the Governor on Saturday seeking his intervention in Kannur to stop the violence and Mr P. Sathasivam asked the chief minister to take immediate preventive measures. The delegation led by Mr O. Rajagopal MLA comprised BJP state secretary V. V. Rajesh and Thiruvananthapuram district president S. Suresh. A communique issued by Raj Bhavan said that the Governor had forwarded the BJP’s petition to the chief minister. “Immediate action is required to curb such disturbing incidents. It is necessary to send a positive signal to peace-loving citizens of the state,” said the communique.