In the wee hours of Friday, the BJP’s state committee office in Trivandrum, Kerala was attacked by CPM goons, during which most of the policemen, who were tasked with its security, appeared to remain mere bystanders. Similar attacks on properties owned by BJP karyakartas were also reported by the party in Veeranakavu, Kattakkada parts of the city on Wednesday morning.
Incidentally, the state President of Kerala BJP, Kummanam Rajasekharan was inside the BJP office when the attack took place at about 1:20 AM on Friday. The BJP soon alleged that it was an attempt to murder its State Chief and promptly made the CCTV footage of the attack available:
CPI(M) attempts to murder @BJP4Keralam‘s State Prez Shri @Kummanam. Attacks State Committee office, vandalises vehicles in police presence. pic.twitter.com/1Qo7oYvmK2
— BJP (@BJP4India) July 28, 2017
In the video, it is seen that 2 people, one of whom is carrying a stick, arrive in front to the office on a bike. Seeing them one of the policeman rushes out of the patrol vehicle and tries to stop them. Then at least another 2-3 people are seen arriving with sticks and large stones. Surprisingly, even after seeing the crowd assemble, the police personnel who ought to have tried and stop the attack, are seen fleeing outside the building.
The goons, as seen in the video, then start to pelt large stones and vandalise vehicles parked inside the office. They soon rush out of the office after carrying out a blitz attack. All this while, even though 4 policemen were clearly seen in the footage, only one was seen trying to stop the attackers.
The authorities though were quick to arrest the perpetrators of the incident. Of the 4 people arrested, one is CPM councilor I.P. Binu, another is SFI leader Prathin Saj Krishna, and remaining two are CPM party workers. These arrests have have confirmed the allegations of BJP that the attackers were communist goons. I.P. Binu and the two other CPM workers have now been suspended by the party, which is trying to distance itself from the incident.
Two police personnel have also been suspended for not trying to stop the CPM goons from attacking the office. The reports also claimed that the house of Bineesh Kodiyeri, who is the son of CPI-M state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, was allegedly attacked hours after the incident, but the BJP has denied any hand in the same.
According to the reports, 10 houses belonging to both BJP and CPM workers were attacked on Thursday night. The police have reported taken six BJP youth wing activists in custody as well, though it isn’t clear whether any CPM activists too have been arrested for the same.
