Kerala - Alappuzha   

5 houses damaged in gang attack

ALAPPUZHA: Barely a day after Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan held discussions with the police top brass and promised action against ‘goon activities’ in Alappuzha, a ‘quotation’ gang went on the rampage near Pazhaveedu here and attacked five houses early Sunday morning.

Though the police attribute different reasons, including a feud among neighbours and the possibility of a “case of the wrong house being attacked,” the incident has cast a shadow of fear in the usually serene locale, which comprises residences of government officials, businessmen, retired senior police officials and people from various walks of life, including Alappuzha MLA K.C. Venugopal.

The night’s events, according to local people, began around 1.30 a.m., with a gang attacking the house of Varghese at Chudukadu Junction near Thiruvambadi. The attack was ‘extended’ to the nearby houses of Ajith Kumar, Anil, Ramla and Ponnamma when they came out of their houses hearing the commotion.

The attackers, they said, abused them and threatened to hack them if they did not retreat to their houses. The goons then went on pelting stones and damaging the houses one after the other. Windows, doors and gates, particularly in the first three houses in the lane, were destroyed.

Mr. Venugopal, who visited the houses in the morning along with District Congress Committee president A.A. Shukoor, demanded an explanation from the police. He recalled that just two days ago he had submitted a memorandum to the Home Minister, listing the problems here due to goon attacks.

The Home Minister, who was in town in Friday, had then held a meeting with District Superintendent of Police C.H. Nagaraju and Inspector-General of Police (Ernakulam Range) Vinson M. Paul. Stringent steps would be taken to tackle the goons, he had told reporters after the meeting.

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