ALAPPUZHA: A Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) activist was hacked to death at Karuvatta near Haripad on Friday. The deceased was identified as Jishnu, 32, a native of Oottuparambu near Karuvatta. Haripad police said that at around 12.30 pm, while he was travelling in a two-wheeler along with a friend, a 10-member gang on two-wheelers intercepted them. They had stopped at Ootuparambu railway gate when the gang attacked. Though he was taken to Medical College Hospital here with critical injuries, he died on the way to hospital. Police suspect the murder was a result of past enmity between the two groups. “No arrest has been made so far,” police said.
Jishnu was joint secretary of DYFI, Haripad region. DYFI leaders alleged that a quotation gang active in Karuvatta was behind the murder. Jishnu and workers of DYFI protested against the activities of the gang and it could have provoked them to kill him. “DYFI will observe a protest in the district on Saturday,” said Manu C. Pulickal, secretary, district committee, DYFI. Local legislator and Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said that the incident was failure of law and order in Karuvatta. This is the second murder in the last two weeks in the constituency,” he said adding the police aid post was not functioning as of now.
However, a large number of cops are deployed in the area. Swaraj, another worker of DYFI was also suffered serious injuries in the attack. He is being treated at the Medical College hospital here. The body of Jishnu shifted to MCH for postmortem. He is survived by mother Geetha and brother Vishnu.
