Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Fire at Mujahideen Salafi library

Thiruvananthapuram: The police have registered a case of arson in connection with the fire that broke out at the Mujahideen Salafi library in the communally sensitive Manikavilakam area in Poonthura police station limits.

The fire broke out around 2.45 a.m. on Saturday. A part of the library, which mainly houses books on Islam, was destroyed. The fire consumed scores of books and also wooden furniture.

Assistant Commissioner, Shanghumugham, S. Sanal Kumar said the fire occurred when a yet-to-be-identified person threw a flaming torch into the library through a ventilator hole.

He said certain anti-social elements had caused the mischief with the intention of vitiating the communal atmosphere. Fire and Rescue Services officials and experts from the State Forensic Sciences Laboratory inspected the library later in the day.

The police said they were also monitoring the activities of certain fundamentalist elements in the area. They were also investigating whether any differences of opinion between members of the governing body of the library had resulted in the arson, sources said.

Another official said a large group of suspected fundamentalist elements had been holding physical-training drills in Vallakadavu and Poonthura localities for the past several months. They had been using a large field near Vallakadavu for the purposes on Sunday mornings. The police said that scores of youth from other districts and possibly even neighbouring Tamil Nadu used to participate in the drill, which allegedly included training in unarmed combat.

The police said certain youth in the area were using the cover of a main stream ‘fundamentalist organisation’ (with a strong cadre presence in the Valiathura police station limits) for criminal activities.

The names of certain local leaders of the organisation were linked with some recent gangland murders in the district, though the police did not get much evidence to link them to crimes.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

An array of curios
Draft bylaw moots stiff penalty for litter bugs
Niraputhari festival at Sabarimala
Postponed
KTDC to extend punching system
Real borrowers ‘denied’ waiver
Achuthanandan writes to Pawar
Agreement was not breached: Minister
University Syndicate approves panel report
Kendriya Vidyalaya bags national award
Fire at Mujahideen Salafi library
Sexual abuse cases on the rise: D. Sreedevi
Fellowship conferred on doctor
Coir workers demand free ration
Plea to file appeal in Netto case

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu