THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Two RSS activists were killed while making crude bombs in Cheruvanchery on Monday morning. One of those killed, K Pradeepan, was awaiting verdict in another blast case in which a girl was injured.
The bomb workshop was adjacent to a temple. The accident occurred when the victims tried to shift the bombs to another place. At least two buckets full of bombs went off simultaneously, causing a powerful blast that shook nearby houses. The victims’ bodies were severely maimed. Pradeepan’s body was fished out of a nearby well.
“We have noticed many such crude bomb making facilities in the locality. We will clamp down on them. We have deputed more personnel in the area,” I-G (north) V Shantaram said. In fact, Pradeepan is one of six accused in another blast case, called the Asna case. He was awaiting court verdict on November 14. Asna, then six years old, lost a leg when a bomb was thrown at her house in September 2000.
The IG hinted that more bombmaking workshops were operating in the area. Locals fear the RSS men were storing explosives for a fresh bout of violence ahead of the verdict.
The CPI(M) was quick to blame the RSS and BJP for turning temples into armouries. “RSS is solely responsible for the accident. The state leadership of the RSS and BJP are trying to instigate violence in Kannur once again,” CPI(M) district secretary P Sasi said. Violence between CPI(M) and BJP workers had left seven people dead in March this year.
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