Shafi Parambil, the United Democratic Front’s (UDF) candidate for Vadakara Lok Sabha Constituency on April 6, alleged that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] is “not ready to leave the swords and bombs” despite claiming to be a progressive party.
Referring to the country bomb explosion in Panoor, Shafi questioned if the CPI(M) intends to terrorise the opposition during the election.
Condemning the bomb incident, Shafi conducted a peace march in Panoor on Saturday, April 6. Following this, addressing the media, he said, “If the bomb had not exploded there, who would it have been used on? Also, who else would have been injured? Such serious questions remain unanswered. This is 2024, it is not good for Kerala to have a bomb as a tool to fight an election. The bomb is manufactured for what? Not for anything other than attacking someone,” Shafi said.
A day earlier, a country bomb exploded while it was being assembled on the terrace of a house. While the explosion killed a man identified as Sheril (25), Vineesh (24) lost both his hands. His condition is said to be critical.
As per the First Information Report (FIR), the Panoor police came to know about the incident after the Koothuparamba police informed them via phone that Vineesh and Sheril were admitted to the Kuthuparamba Taluk Hospital when they were injured after the explosion. Police registered a Suo Motu case against Vineesh and Sheril and booked them under sections 3 (Causing explosive substance to endanger life or cause serious injury) and 5 (Possessing or making any explosive substance) of Explosive Substance Act.
While the UDF alleges a connection of the CPI(M) in the incident, CPI(M) state secretary MV Govindhan said that the accused were nowhere connected to the party.
Despite the CPI (M) disassociating with the accused, CPI (M)’s Koothuparamba MLA KP Mohanan and other CPI (M) leaders attended the funeral of Sheril, creating a controversy. Reacting to this, CPI(M) state committee member P Jayarajan said, “We have already clarified that the individuals involved in this case have no connection with the party. What’s wrong if an MLA visits a deceased person’s house? Even our area committee members have not gone there. Those who have gone there on the basis of some relationship or friendship. We cannot stop them from doing that. We are not inhuman.”
Condemning the CPI (M), Vadakara MLA and leader of Revolutionary Marxist Party of India KK Rema, said, “The CPI(M) leaders should clarify, why they are making the bombs, and to whom they are aiming to kill. None of the excuses they are giving is credible.”
Addressing the issue, Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate in the Vadakara constituency KK Shailaja demanded the party to conduct an internal inquiry and verify if indeed the CPI (M) workers attended the funeral of the accused.
Meanwhile, the police have arrested four persons – Athul, Arun, Shibin Lal and Sayooj – in connection with the bomb blast. Two others – Shijal and Akshay – are at large, reports said.
Police have recovered more than 10 bombs from the area and decided to conduct a wide-scale search in Kannur and Kozhikode.
Reportedly, a 10-member gang were behind the bomb manufacturing. The motive behind this is yet to be investigated. The police have already formed a special investigation team led by Koothuparamba Assistant Commissioner K Venugopal.