Taliparamba and nearby areas that had witnessed arson in the past few days remained peaceful, though tense.
The Taliparamba and neighbouring areas including Chapparappadavu and Naduvil that were gripped by tension following the incidents of arsonists setting on fire several vehicles including two-wheelers were slowly returning to normalcy, as an all-party meeting convened by the Taliparamba Tahsildar C.M. Gopinath on Tuesday morning called for restoring peace in the area where the atmosphere of tension following recent clashes between the Communist Party of India (Marxist) workers and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) activists was apparently being exploited for creating communal tension.
The police said barring an incident in which assailants felled rubber plants of an IUML activist M.C. Mammu, at Chapparappadavu in the early hours of Tuesday, no incidents of violence or arson were reported. The police said that 35 rubber plants were cut down by unidentified trouble-makers.
The police also strengthened its deployment in the trouble-torn areas. Superintendent of Police Anup Kuruvila John was camping in the area in view of the law and order situation there. The police personnel also conducted raids in different parts of Taliparamba and nearby areas to nab the arsonists who set ablaze over 15 vehicles during the past three days. The police also said that some people were picked up for questioning.
Meanwhile, IUML leaders who attended the peace meeting said that the police action of seizing two-wheelers in large numbers from Taliparamba and nearby areas was causing inconvenience to the public in the area already affected by the autorikshaw and taxi strike.
The peace meeting decided to form local level ‘Jagratha Samithis’ in the violence-hit areas and to convene local level peace initiatives.
The meeting was attended by P. Jayarajan, MLA, among others. Local leaders of the political parties also attended the meeting.
