KPCC Chief K Sudhakaran.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Kannur (Kerala): Senior Congress leader K Sudhakaran on Wednesday courted controversy by asking how many people has Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan killed by hurling bombs.
The veteran leader made the remarks against the CM when reporters sought his reaction to the recent death of an 86-year-old man in the district in a bomb explosion.
According to police, Velayudhan died when he picked up and tried to open a bomb which he found on an uninhabited property near Thalassery in Kannur district where he had gone to collect coconuts on Tuesday.
When reporters pointed to Vijayan's statement about the alleged display of crude bombs in the Kannur District Congress Committee (DCC) office in the past, Sudhakaran called the CM "stupid." He asked how many people had Vijayan killed by hurling bombs and shooting.
Sudhakaran, who was elected from Kannur seat in the April 26 Lok Sabha polls, also alleged that several youngsters had been killed by bombs made by the CPI (M) in Kannur.
Meanwhile, a woman living near the site of the bomb explosion that killed the elderly man, condemned the violent political culture in the district.
During her meeting with Congress MP elect Shafi Parambil, who visited the area on Wednesday, the woman claimed that unoccupied houses were being used for bomb-making, and it was posing a threat to the lives of residents, including children.
The CPI(M) has not reacted to the allegations.
Earlier in the day, Vijayan admitted in the state assembly that there have been repeated incidents of bomb blasts in some areas of the northern district of Kannur and said the police will conduct more rigorous investigations there.