Thiruvananthapuram, April 17: The back to back killings of a Popular Front of India worker and a former RSS activist has created a tense situation in Kerala as this could lead to communal flare up. The state intelligence, according to sources, has warned the government of serious issues if stringent action is not taken against the perpetrators of the crimes.
Popular Front of India worker, Subair (44) was killed after being knocked down by a car while he was returning home with his father, Aboobacker after attending prayers at a local mosque on Friday. Barely 24 hours within the murder of Subair, RSS local leader and a former ‘Pracharak’, Sreenivasan (45) was hacked to death by suspected PFI/ SDPIR gang.
Police said that the killing of Subair was suspected to be in retaliation to the murder of RSS worker Sanjith on November 15, 2021.
The Central intelligence agencies have also warned the state government that if the issue was not dealt with strongly, things could get out of control.
Recently an SDPI activist M.K. Ashraf from Muvattupuzha in Kerala was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for embezzlement of wealth and for disproportionate sources of income. It is alleged that Ashraf is one of the main sources of funding of the SDPI and PFI. The arrest of Journalist Siddique Kappan in Uttar Pradesh while he was travelling to Hathras in 2020 was also a blow to the SDPI after the Uttar Pradesh Police alleged that the Keralite, who was living in New Delhi for several years, was part of the PFI group. Police and central agencies had opposed Kappan’s bail stating that he was involved in several anti-national activities and this has also a bearing on SDPI in Kerala.
With the killing of the RSS leader, there are possibilities of more action from the central home ministry and, hence the state government will have to act strongly against the perpetrators of the crime.
Sources told IANS that around 50 RSS and PFI activists were under detention in Palakkad and some district level leaders of both the organisations would be interrogated and taken into custody if necessary.
The killings witnessed in the last two days, have taken the sheen out of the festivities in the state. Vishu the Kerala new year was celebrated on Friday while Easter is on Sunday and for the Muslim community this is the holy Ramzan month. A strong contingent of Police headed by Additional Director General of Police, Vijay Sakhare is camping in the area to prevent any further untoward incidents. (IANS)