Tension gripped Palakkad yet again on Monday when some unidentified persons hurled petrol bombs at the house of a Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) worker who is an accused in murder of former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) trainer A. Sreenivasan.
The bomb attack on the house of Firos K. at Kavilpad took place around 1.30 a.m. when the members of his family were asleep. Firos, one of the key accused in Sreenivasan’s murder, is in judicial custody.
Police said two petrol bombs made of beer bottles were hurled at the house, but they did not trigger a blaze. Broken pieces of the bottles and some twines and rags were found strewn in front of the house. The bottles had the smell of petrol. They made a dent on the front wall of the house.
Police suspect that RSS men were behind the attack. A group of RSS men had created tension at Melamuri on Wednesday last when Firos was brought there for verification. They had screamed at Firos and threatened to finish him off.
BJP district president K.M. Haridas denied the involvement of the RSS and the BJP in the attack. He alleged that it was a deliberate attempt by the SDPI and Popular Front men to divert the attention from Sreenivasan’s murder.
Police strengthened vigil in Palakkad town following the attack, which took place at a time when the situation in the district was returning to normal. Prohibitory orders had been clamped in the district and pillion riding banned for men for 12 days following two back-to-back political murders involving the RSS and SDPI men. The ban orders were lifted on Thursday last.
Sreenivasan, 45, former physical trainer of the RSS, was hacked to death by a group of SDPI men at his shop at Melamuri on April 16. His murder was an apparent retaliation for the killing of SDPI worker A. Mohammed Subair, 44, at Elappully on April 15. Subair was hacked to death by a group of RSS men when he was returning from Juma prayers along with his father on a bike.
Police arrested 16 SDPI men in connection with the murder of Sreenivasan, and five RSS men in connection with the murder of Subair.
