The Muvattupuzha town witnessed a pitched battle between Congress and CPI(M) activists on Wednesday afternoon following a protest march taken out by the Congress in protest against the alleged destruction of party flagpoles by CPI(M) activists in the wake of the death of SFI activist Dheeraj Rajendran.
Tension erupted when the protest march by activists of the Congress and its feeder organisations reached near the CPI(M) party office. CPI(M) activists lined up in front of the party office initially engaged in a war of words with the protesters, and the situation deteriorated rapidly despite the presence of police personnel in large numbers. Soon, the poles of flags held by both sides started flying into both the camps followed by stones. In the ensuing melee, the Puthencruz DySP was left with a bleeding head after being hit by a stone. Activists from both sides were also injured.
The town was held hostage to the fight, for which both sides blamed each other, for more than two hours. Vehicles were also damaged in the violence.
Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan said the provocation came from the CPI(M) party office, as the protesting Congress activists were attacked with stones, sticks, and even crackers. However, K. P. Ramachandran, CPI(M) Muvattupuzha area secretary, alleged that it was the Congress which deliberately created tension by taking out a protest march in front of the party office in the surcharged atmosphere of the death of the SFI activist.
The alleged destruction of Congress party flagpoles on the night when CPI(M) and SFI activists took out a march to protest the alleged killing triggered the protest march. “We initially planned to stage a protest march on Tuesday but postponed it for the sake of civility, as the dead body of the SFI activist was to pass through the town. Our activists merely retaliated to the violence against them,” said Mr. Kuzhalnadan.
Mr. Ramachandran said that Congress activists had deliberately created trouble on Monday night when the party workers staged a march to protest the alleged killing of the SFI activist by throwing verbal abuses against them.