Tension prevailed at East Palloor in Mahe following an attack on five Communist Party of India (Marxist) workers by a group of suspected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists late on Sunday night.
The CPI(M) workers injured in the attack are party's East Palloor branch secretary K. Vinodan (33), K. Sunilkumar (32), K. Bijesh (24), P. Kumaran (57) and Pramil Kumar (34).
They had been attacked by the assailants near the East Palloor Spinning Mill under the Palloor Police Station limits in Mahe. Vinodan, Sunilkumar and Bijesh, who had sustained serious stab injuries in the attack, have been admitted to hospital in Kozhikode. The others have been taken to the Thalassery Co-operative Hospital.
The Palloor Police registered a case against six BJP activists for attempted murder. In view of the tension in the area, Mahe police and the Kannur police deployed personnel in large numbers in and around the tension-hit area including Thalassery. The incident on Sunday night raised apprehensions about retaliatory attacks in the area known for political violence. Senior Police officers including Kannur Superintendent of Police Anup Kuruvila John and his Mahe counterpart D. Raveendran visited the spot. The police said that raids were being conducted in the area for nabbing the culprits and unearthing weapons.
The CPI(M) leadership here said that the attack on the CPI(M) workers was an attempt to create political tension in the sensitive Thalassery area that had been returning to peace.
