The arrest of Parakkandi Nijildas, an RSS worker accused in the murder of CPI(M) worker Haridasan, from a house located 100 metres from the ancestral home of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on April 23, has led to a row on the political affiliation of those who allegedly harboured him. Reshma, a teacher at Amrita Vidyalam and owner of the house, was later arrested on charges of harbouring a murder accused. While Nijildas was remanded in judicial custody, Reshma was granted bail by the Kannur district court.
Kannur is home to several CPI(M) stalwarts including the Chief Minister, party secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, Left Democratic Front (LDF) convenor EP Jayarajan and the newly appointed political secretary to the CM P Sasi. Pinarayi, considered a ‘party village’, has remained a CPM stronghold for years and the arrest of the 38-year-old RSS worker from the house of Prasanth, a Non-Resident Indian, and his wife Reshma, whose family claims to be CPI(M) sympathisers, seems to have embarrassed the party. Soon after the arrest, crude bombs were thrown at the residence by unidentified people. Nijildas, who had been staying in the house since April 17, was traced to Pinarayi village using the tower location, police said.
While CPI(M) Kannur district secretary MV Jayarajan alleged that Prasanth and his wife Reshma were supporters of RSS/BJP, local leaders have said they were party sympathisers. Jayarajan, on April 24 reiterated his statement by alleging that Reshma received help from the RSS for obtaining the conditional bail.
Pinarayi North branch secretary C Baiju had stated that they might not be party members, but always “cooperate with us as sympathisers”. Party local secretary Kakkoth Rajan also said that the party was in good rapport with the family. “We have no clue as to how these developments have cropped up,” he said. Recently, the house of Reshma and Prasanth, from where Nijildas was arrested, was given on rent for Pinarayi Peruma, an event organised by party supporters. According to the TNIE report, Reshma’s husband Prashanth Pinarayi’s Facebook profile suggests his affiliation with the CPI(M) and that he had offered his salutations to the Party Congress held at Kannur recently.
Reshma, who has since been suspended from the school where she works, has lodged a complaint with Pinarayi Vijayan against Jayarajan and district secretariat member Karayi Rajan for defaming her in social media. In the complaint, she alleged that some local CPI(M) and DYFI functionaries were posting her family pictures on social media, and have made them a target of scurrilious allegations.
Jayarajan, while speaking to the mediapersons at Kannur on Sunday, alleged that when Reshma got bail she was welcomed by BJP Thalassery unit general secretary K Ajesh and that the advocate who appeared for Reshma was Premarajan, a lawyer who has represented BJP workers before. “The party has no links with Prasanth, whose house was used by the RSS worker. He (Prasanth) had adopted the stand followed by the RSS on many issues and had actively taken part in agitations organised by them against Covid-19 restrictions last year. Such a person cannot be called a CPI(M) sympathiser,” he had said.
The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) alleged that Reshma and her family were CPI(M) supporters and were regularly found at party functions. Congress also alleged that the Chief Minister was unable to stop “bomb culture” in his own village.
The BJP state president K Surendran, in a statement, said that the party was never involved in the murder of CPI(M) worker Haridasan and that the Kerala Chief Minister must answer as to how an accused in the case managed a hideout at a residence close to the ancestral home of the Chief Minister, located in a CPI(M) stronghold. V Manivarnan, district vice president of BJP in Kannur while speaking to IANS said, "It is for the police to bring out the facts. How can an accused stay in hiding at a place close to the residence of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, where there is a complete dominance of the CPI(M). We demand a detailed investigation."
Reshma has also complained of humiliation at the hands of the officers who arrested her. Advocate P Premarajan, who appeared for Reshma in Kannur district court, while speaking to media persons, said that character assassination of his client was taking place in social media and that they will take legal measures against this. "Her arrest is a violation of human rights. Scandalous claims are being made through social media," he told Manorama News, a Malayalam TV news channel.
Jayarajan, however, has asked party supporters to abstain from unleashing attacks against Reshma and her family through social media.
As per media reports quoting Reshma’s father, Nijildas was the husband of Reshma’s close friend and that was why the house was rented to him. He claimed Reshma had no knowledge that he was accused in a murder case. “It is absolutely wrong to say that Reshma had brought food to Nijil while he was hiding in the house at Pandyalamukku. The house was given on rent to Nijil based on a lease deed with him,” Rajan said, according to the TNIE report.
On February 21, Haridasan (54), who was a fisherman and a CPI(M) party worker, was allegedly hacked to death by a gang of assailants in front of his house at Punnol near New Mahe in Kannur. He was attacked while he was returning home after work. While CPI(M) alleged that he was hacked to death by a group of RSS-BJP men, the BJP denied the allegation. According to the CPI(M), in the past two years, Haridasan has become the tenth victim in Kannur.
(With IANS inputs)