BJP workers ‘attack’ journalists covering municipal councillor’s death in Kerala

The death by suspected suicide of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) municipal councillor K. Anil Kumar at his office at Thirumala in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday (September 20, 3035) appeared to have snowballed into a controversy after persons suspected to be party activists attacked journalists who reached the spot to cover the incident. 

Mr. Kumar’s death also appeared to put the BJP district unit on the defensive after some quarters close to him attempted to link it to the “debt caused by financial mismanagement” at a cooperative society headed by the councillor.

The police have shifted the body to the Thiruvananthapuram Government Medical College Hospital mortuary for a post-mortem examination. 

Meanwhile, some news outlets, quoting anonymous sources, broadcast that the police had recovered a suicide note incriminating several BJP leaders in Thiruvananthapuram in Mr. Kumar’s death.

A section of BJP workers who congregated outside Mr. Kumar’s office protested against the news report and mobbed journalists covering the development. In the ensuing fracas, several journalists, including women, sustained minor injuries and damage to equipment, including cameras.

Pradeep Kumar, a senior photographer working for the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] mouthpiece Deshabhimani, termed the attack “unprovoked.”

The Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) has condemned the attack on mediapersons. It has also decided to petition the police to probe the assault. 

Party to probe attack: V.V. Rajesh

Meanwhile, BJP district president V.V. Rajesh said the party would investigate the attack on mediapersons at Thirumala.

He claimed that Mr. Kumar had exhibited signs of depression for the past few days. “Some financial issues regarding borrowers defaulting on loan repayments had distressed Mr. Anil Kumar”, he said. 

Mr. Rajesh said the BJP had no role in the running of the cooperative financial institution. 

Meanwhile, the CPI(M) has sought to equate Mr. Kumar’s death with the suspected suicide of the District Congress Committee treasurer, Wayanad, N.M. Vijayan. 

The veteran Congress leader’s family had linked Vijayan’s death to a cooperative bank employment scam involving senior Congress leaders in the district.

They alleged that Vijayan had incurred an enormous debt, estimated at ₹2.21 crore, after mortgaging his property to repay sums allegedly collected by Congress leaders, who had promised jobs in a party-controlled local cooperative bank.

Vijayan’s daughter-in-law, Padmaja, had called on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan last week and demanded an inquiry into the death. She accused the Congress of abandoning her family.

On Saturday, she threatened to stage an indefinite sit-in protest in front of the KPCC State headquarters, Indira Bhavan, in Thiruvananthapuram, if the party leadership did not honour its promise to Vijayan. 

(Suicide Prevention Helpline: Disha – 1056, 0471-2552056)