An all-party peace meeting held here on Thursday resolved to restore normalcy in Mavungal and Kottapara, near Kanhangad, after violence broke out in the region following recent clashes involving DYFI and RSS-BJP workers. The meeting, chaired by District Collector K. Jeevanbabu, called upon leaders of various political parties to see to it that political clashes did not recur.
On the RSS-BJP leaders’ allegation that the police used force to arrest their workers involved in the clashes, the meeting decided to institute a probe headed by the Special Branch Dy.SP. The clashes between the rival political groups followed a ‘Yuvajana Prathirodha Sanghamam’ staged by 2,000-odd DYFI workers at the RSS-BJP stronghold of Kottapara, 5 km from Kanhangad, on Independence Day.
Political activists should not be ferried in open vehicles to conventions as far as possible, it was decided at the meeting. The meeting was attended by district police chief K.G. Simon, Hosdurg RDO P.K. Jayashree, CPI(M) district secretary K.P. Satheesh Chandran, BJP district president K. Sreekanth, Manjeswaram MLA C.H. Kunhambu, Madikkai grama panchayat president C. Prabhakaran, among others.
