Thiruvananthapuram: The revelation of a woman hailing from CPI(M)'s stronghold Kannur that bomb making by party workers has been rampant in the region and people are not responding against it owing to fear has put the CPI(M) government in Kerala in a tight spot.
It was in the backdrop of the death of an 85 year old man in an explosion at Eranholi near Thalassery in Kannur on Tuesday that a woman in the locality broke her silence.
Raveendran, 85, died after explosives stored in a steel container found abandoned on the premises of a vacant house exploded while he tried to open it.
As Congress leader and MP-elect of the region Shafi Parambil visited the spot on Wednesday, the woman staying next door met him and pleaded that the people of the region wanted to live peacefully.
"Bomb making is rampant here. Many vacant houses are hubs of bomb making. The other day only some party workers took three bombs from the nearby house. The people here did not speak against it owing to fear of being attacked. Now an innocent elderly man got killed. Tomorrow it can happen to any of us. Our children used to play at all these places. Kindly allow us to lead a peaceful life. It is our right. We don't want to get killed in explosion," said the woman.
While the woman was telling this, her mother could be seen trying to stop her. But she asked her mother how long they can tolerate.
In April a CPI(M) worker was killed and two others suffered serious injuries during an explosion at a crude bomb making unit at Panoor near Thalassery.
Earlier during the day, the Congress and the BJP accused the CPI(M) for the explosion on Tuesday. The issue also led to noisy scenes in Kerala assembly with Congress giving a notice for adjournment motion and later staging a walkout for denying permission.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan accused the opposition parties of unnecessarily giving political colour to the incident. He said that all those who were involved in crude bomb making will be held and stringent action will be taken.
Congress alleged that illegal crude bomb making units were functioning like cottage industries in CPI(M)'s stronghold of Kannur. CPI(M) is funding it and it is happening with the blessings of the chief minister. The CPI(M) is even setting up memorials for those killed during bomb making, opposition leader V D Satheesan criticised.
BJP state president K Surendran alleged that a comprehensive probe should be conducted into the explosion on Tuesday. CPI(M)'s involvement in bomb making in Kannur region is very evident, he alleged.