The Hindu : RSP(B) leader hacked to death

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 20, 2004

Kerala

Kerala - Kollam

RSP(B) leader hacked to death

By Our Staff Reporter

KOLLAM, FEB. 19. Sudhakaran (58), an RSP(B) leader, was hacked to death by a 20-member gang at Guhanandapuram near here today.

Police said they suspect that a long-standing dispute between two groups over control of the Guhanandapuram Subramania Swamy Temple committee could be the reason behind the murder. The police have taken three persons into custody for interrogation.

The RSP(B) blamed the CPI(M) for the murder. In a statement here today, the RSP(B) district secretary, N. Ramachandran, alleged that CPI(M) activists were behind the murder. He wanted the police to arrest the culprits as early as possible.

Sudhakaran, who runs a coir unit, expected a load of coir last night and was waiting at the unit when the gang barged in. He was dragged into a room and hacked and stabbed several times. The gang then unleashed a reign of terror in the nearby areas by attacking more than 10 houses. The local residents alleged that they informed the police immediately, but the police response was `mild'.

As a result, the profusely bleeding, Sudhakaran, could not be shifted to a hospital. The police arrived three hours late and by that time he was dead.

Tension erupted in the area when the police arrived to prepare the inquest today. Local residents registered their protest by preventing the police from entering the room where the murder took place. The situation was later brought under control and after the inquest formalities, the body was taken to the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital for a post mortem.

The temple trust manages the temple and a higher secondary school. The dispute over control since the past couple of years had brought the trust under the receiver administration. A court verdict on the dispute was also awaited. Two months ago both groups had held separate press conferences here accusing each other of trying to usurp the temple committee.

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