Kerala CPM Leader Facing Threat From "Hit Team": Leaked Police Circular

Kannur:  CPM leader P Jayarajan is facing a threat to his life from a "hit team", allegedly led by a local RSS activist, a leaked police circular to all police stations in Kerala's Kannur has warned. Cops, according to the circular, have been directed to ensure the safety of Mr Jayarajan. The circular also says that the plan to target the CPM district secretary has been done with the "knowledge of the RSS leadership".

The police have made arrangements to strengthen security at all places Mr Jayarajan is likely to visit, a senior officer said.

Speaking to NDTV, newly elected BJP lawmaker to Rajya Sabha V Muraleedharan said, "This is a ploy of the CPM's Left government in Kerala which is using the police to further its narrative. Neither the BJP nor the RSS believe in the policy of annihilating their opponents."

The CPM is concocting this threat story in its bid to bail out their Kannur CPM leader who has lost his face after the recent gruesome attack on youth Congress worker Shuhaib, Mr Muraleedharan added.

Mr Jayarajan, a victim of political violence himself, is an accused in the murder of RSS worker Manoj and is currently out on bail. The CBI had claimed that Mr Jayarajan, the 25th accused in the murder of Manoj, was the brain behind the killing.

Manoj, 42, a district functionary of RSS, was hacked to death in Kannur's Kathiroor in September 2014, allegedly by a group of CPM workers. Mr Manoj's murder was seen as a revenge killing as he was accused of his involvement in an attack on Mr Jayarajan almost two decades ago.

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And now, the RSS activist, Pranoob Babu, is reportedly seeking revenge for Manoj's murder. Babu is a seasoned criminal and is accused in a murder case, the circular said.

Kerala's Kannur district has been infamous for political violence between the RSS, the BJP's ideological mentor, and CPM, with a history running over three decades. Tension often sneaks into the area with rival parties accusing each other of poaching workers resulting in an alleged loss of lives.