Kasaragod: A grassroots Congress leader has been hacked allegedly by CPM workers at Kuttikol grama panchayat in Kasaragod late Friday night.
Venu Puluvinchi (35), the party's Kuttikol mandalam secretary, suffered a six-inch long wound on his forearm in the attack. He is undergoing treatment in the District Hospital at Kanhangad.
He alleged he was attacked by CPM's Puluvinchi branch secretary Reji Puluvenchi, DYFI unit president Santhosh alias Unni, and CPM worker Sujith.
Venu said he was attending a housewarming party of his relative when the three men called him towards them. "When I walked up to him, the branch secretary told Santhosh to attack me. Santhosh took out a double-edged sword and tried to slash my head," he said from the hospital bed.
Venu blocked the sword with his arm and suffered a long deep wound on his arm. "They were trying to kill me," he said.
The public caught hold of the attackers and handed them over to the police.
Bedakam police have registered a case of simple hurt and served notice on the accused, said an officer.
"The victim and the attackers are relatives. It is a family dispute but now has become political," the officer said.
In a statement, the Kuttikol Mandalam Congress committee alleged that the attack was carried out with the knowledge of CPM's Padappu local committee secretary K N Rajan.
The Congress said the attack was an attempt to divert the public's attention from the various protests it was conducting against the LDF-congress Kuttikol panchayat board for stonewalling the construction of a road at Korakkal near Paduppu.
On February 16, Youth Congress district secretary Martin George was assaulted allegedly by CPM workers, including a panchayat member, at Eramakulam in Kodom-Belur grama panchayat. George's eardrum was ruptured. He was returning from an event to commemorate the death anniversary of Youth Congress workers Kripesh and Sarath Lal P K, who were hacked to death allegedly by CPM workers on February 17, 2019.
