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Marad panel's directive to Special Branch

By Our Staff Reporter

KOZHIKODE DEC. 30. The Marad Judicial Inquiry Commission has directed the State Special Branch (SSB) and the City Special Branch to produce all documents and intelligence reports from the January 2002 communal riots to the May 2003 massacre at Marad within 10 days.

The Commission, Thomas P. Joseph, who held a sitting for the second day at the Court Complex here today also directed the two agencies to give a database on the strength of various political parties at Marad.

He will also visit the seaside village at 4 p.m. on January 13. The next sitting will be held on January 16 and January 17.

Meanwhile, the District Collector, T. O. Sooraj, was grilled by the Counsel for the Commission, P. V. Hari, on the second day of the cross-examination that lasted nearly five hours. The cross examination was based on the statements he had filed on the May 2 massacre on December 19.

Asked whether any fundamentalist outfits had influenced the people of Marad, Mr. Sooraj said he did not feel that there was a ` conspicuous presence' of fundamentalist elements in Marad. However, some of the people appeared to be attached to some fundamentalist outfits. But they were under strict surveillance, he added.

A small section of the Hindu and the Muslim communities might have been influenced by religious zealots. Since fishermen were strong believers in God they could be easily influenced by religious leaders. Political and religious involvement led to the incident, he said.

Mr. Sooraj replied in the negative to another question whether he had asked the Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) to keep all the mosques and temples under surveillance after the communal conflagration between the Hindus and Muslims in 2002. Only directions had been given to watch the entire coastal area, he responded.

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