Author: Our Staff Reporter
Publication: The Hindu
Date: May 24, 2002
The tense situation prevailing in
Iritty and nearby areas here following the murder of an RSS worker late
last night turned volatile as two persons, including a woman, were killed
today in a powerful bomb attack on a jeep carrying BJP workers returning
after the funeral of the deceased RSS activist. The assailants were suspected
to be CPI(M) workers.
Police identified the deceased as
Ammu (70), a BJP sympathiser, and the jeep driver, Shihab (25), of nearby
Padikkachal, who was an IUML worker. Police said the jeep, with several
BJP-RSS workers on board, came under the bomb attack by suspected CPI(M)
workers at Karkode, near Thillankery under the Iritty police station limits,
at around 5.15 p.m. The two died on the spot, the police said. At least
three BJP workers on board the vehicle were seriously injured in the attack.
They have been rushed to Kozhikode Medical College Hospital. In view of
the tense situation following the incident, the District Collector, V.
Venu, clamped prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Cr. PC on Iritty,
Mattannur, Koothuparamba and Panur police station limits for three days
with effect from 8 p.m today.
The incident occurred close on the
heels of the killing of the RSS worker and bus driver, Chodon Uthaman,
last night. Uthaman had been stabbed to death inside the bus he was driving
by a group of assailants, allegedly CPI(M) workers, when it reached Keezhur.
The assailants first exploded several country bombs. After passengers ran
out of the bus in panic, they boarded the bus and fatally hacked the driver.
A passenger, identified as V.T. Vikraman, had suffered injuries in the
bomb attack.
The police arrested at least 10
CPI(M) workers, including the party Iritty area secretary, K. Sreedharan,
in connection with the incident yesterday. A large number of police personnel
were deployed in the area after the incident. The DIG (Kannur Range), Shankar
Reddy, and the SP, Manoj Abraham, visited the areas to supervise the law
and order measures. Extensive raids were also conducted in Chavassery and
Iritty areas to nab the culprits. Meanwhile, the hartal called by the BJP
in the Peravur constituency to protest against the killing of Uthaman was
total.
