In an open letter to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, sister of slain Congress youth leader Shuhaib requested him to help end the political violence in Kannur.
The letter by 23-year-old-Sumayya comes ten days after her brother was hacked to death, allegedly by a group of Communist Party of India (Marxist) workers in Mattanur, Kannur.
According to post-mortem reports, Shuhaib was slashed with a sword over 35 times on his legs and died due to excessive bleeding.
The letter which was sent to the CM’s office by post on Thursday read:
“Honorable Chief Minister,
We do not know how to write impressively. For the past few days, me, my father, mother and sisters and anybody else who visited our home have only experienced sorrow. Shuhaib Ikka was of great support to us and was a great friend. He was even a big source of support for people who are total strangers to us, we come to know now. Those who have come to visit us after hearing about Ikka’s murder told us about it.
That Ikka will not be with us anymore is a fact that all of us are yet to accept. Whatever the reason is, how could he be eliminated in such a manner?
None should die this way in the future. Let our brother be the last name in this list of killings. Let nobody be murdered like this in the future. For our sake and for the sake of several families like us, we need you to promise that such atrocities will not be repeated in the future. Will you promise us that at least?
From Sumayya
(Sister of Shuhaib)”
Following the incident, police arrested two CPI (M) workers – Akash (23) and Rijin Raj (24) – on Sunday night.
The police also confirmed that the arrested were the real culprits, rubbishing Congress' claims that the police were framing 'dummy accused' to hide the real perpetrators. Further, what has shocked many is a picture of the accused with Pinarayi Vijayan and CPI (M) State Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, which were doing the rounds on social media.
While giving their statement, the accused said that their intention was not to murder but only cause grievous injuries below the knees.
However, speaking to TNM, Kannur IG Mahipal Yadav, who lead the investigating team, said, "No matter what the accused have told us, the injuries inflicted on Shuhaib are fatal and it is hard to believe that they were done without the intention of killing. So, such frivolous statements from the accused will not hold ground. There are some more names that have come up after the arrest of these two and the investigation is progressing in full swing."