On Friday, Aslam, a 20-year-old worker of Indian Union of Muslim League (IUML), was brutally murdered in Nadapuram, Kozhikode district of Kerala. Aslam’s body had 67 stab wounds, including 13 on the face and his hands were chopped.
He is said to have been attacked by a six-member gang that arrived in an Innova car.
Aslam’s murder closely resembles the infamous killing of Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) leader TP Chandrashekharan. The TP murder is considered to be one of the most brutal political killings that Kerala has witnessed. He was allegedly murdered by CPI (M) activists, as TP was earlier in the CPI (M) and later left the party and formed the RMP. TP had 52 stab wounds in his body.
Media reports allege that the Aslam murder is linked to the killing of Kuneri Shibin, 19, a CPI (M) activist. Aslam was an accused in the Shibin murder case and was later acquitted by a lower court. It was in June 2016 that the Special Additional Sessions Court set free all the 17 accused in the Shibin murder case.
Shibin was allegedly killed by a 10 member gang of IUML workers at Thuneri near Nadapuram on January 22, 2015. After the incident, large-scale violence erupted in and around the Nadapuram region. A number of houses and vehicles were set ablaze in Thuneri. Aslam was the third accused in this case.
After he was acquitted in the case, Aslam had gone to Dubai. He had returned to Kerala for a vacation a few days ago. Though there were friend along with Aslam on Friday, the attackers targeted only him. As per eye witness accounts, Aslam was continuously stabbed by assailants with swords to make sure that he wouldn’t survive the injuries.
As per the reports, all the accused who were acquitted in the Shibin murder have left Nadapuram after Aslam’s death, fearing similar attacks.
Nadapuram has become infamous for its political killings and violence. It began in 2000 when a DYFI (CPI (M)’s youth wing) worker, P. Santhosh, was killed by IUML activists. The very next day, IUML sympathizer, Thayyullathil Moosa Haji (68), was murdered in retaliation.
Later in June 2001, National Development Front (NDF), another Muslim organisation, alleged that a CPI (M) worker, E Binu, had raped a Muslim woman. Binu was killed, but it was later proved that the rape case was a fabricated one.
Since 2001 there have been five political killings in Nadapuram.