CM using police to name party leaders’ sons in Shukkoor murder case: Pinarayi

Communist Party of India (Marxist) State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan has alleged that Chief Minister Oommen Chandy is using the police force to name party workers including sons of party leaders as accused in the case of the murder of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) worker Abdul Shukkoor here last month. Inaugurating the ‘Janakeeya Koottayma’ organised here on Friday by the pro-CPI(M) co-ordination committee of cultural organisations to mobilise public outrage against what the organisers called ‘League extremism’ here, Mr. Vijayan’s refrain in the speech was that the CPI(M) was a party which had an array of workers, including those belonging to the Muslim community, who had laid their lives for the Communist movement.

The organisation of the ‘koottayma’ here was apparently to ward off the adverse situation following the investigating team’s finding that Shukkoor had been hacked to death in a planned manner after the assailants got his photo captured on their mobile phones verified.

Shukkoor had been killed by a group of suspected CPI(M) workers at Keezhara near here in retaliation for the alleged attack on CPI(M) district secretary P. Jayarajan and T.V. Rajesh, MLA, at Ariyil near here that day.

The CPI(M) State secretary said that the Chief Minister should not entertain the illusion that the party could be intimidated by including party leaders’ sons in the case. Reiterating his charge that the Chief Minister and his office were involved in spreading fabricated stories on the murder, he said that the IUML, the National Development Front (which is re-christened as Popular Front of India), the Congress and the State government were joined together to attack the CPI(M). He said that the party could not be hoped to be frightened by attempts to mobilise members of a particular community against it.

The party represented people from all religious groups, he added.

Referring to the IUML’s collection of funds for the family of Shukkoor outside the mosques after the Friday sermon, he said that the party was against extremists of all varieties using places of worship for their activities.

Mr. Vijayan, who earlier visited party worker Mohanan admitted to the Pariyaram Medical College Hospital with serious injuries allegedly suffered in an attack by suspected IUML workers here, urged the Chief Minister to visit Mohanan when he would pay a visit to the district.

The Chief Minister should at least speak to the doctors treating him to understand the seriousness of the injury he suffered from the ‘League criminals’, he added. He said the story of ‘party court’ which had allegedly decided to ‘execute’ Shukkoor, was fabricated by the Chief Minister and his office and circulated by a section of the media.