Police intensify search for Lalji’s killers

Congress activists observe hartal; security tightened at Ayyanthole

The police have intensified the search for the killers of Congress activist Lalji Kollannur, who was hacked to death at Ayyanthole on Friday.

Unidentified persons, who came on a motorbike, hacked to death Lalji, Ayyanthole Congress mandalam committee vice-president, near the Thenjithukavu temple at Ayyanthole around 6.45 p.m. The duo attacked Lalji, who was riding his scooter to his house, on the head and face. There were more than 12 injuries on his body. Though he was rushed to hospital, his life could not be saved.

The police suspect that one of the killers was a member of a professional goonda gang. The police said the murder was carried out so meticulously that no one heard any sound from the murder scene. The killers escaped on their motorbike. The police said such murders had been done only by professional gangs.

The police were also investigating who had enmity with Lalji.

The police suspect that the murder was in retaliation for the murder of Congress leader Eacharathu Madhu two months ago. Madhu was killed by a gang in front of the Karthyayani temple at Ayyanthole on June 2.

Lalji was the brother of Premji Kollannur, an accused in the Madhu murder case. The police suspect that the murder of Madhu was in retaliation for an attack on Premji Kollannur in April, allegedly carried out by a gang led by Madhu. Madhu was secretary of the Ayyanthole Congress mandalam unit and vice-president of the Karthyayani temple committee.

The murders are seen as the result of rivalry in the Ayyanthole mandalam unit of the Congress that came to the fore during the recent YC elections. The discord among two factions of the ‘I’ group in the Ayyanthole unit of the YC came to a boil recently.