Samajam rebuff to Marad panel

The Arya Samajam at Marad in Kozhikode district will not cooperate with the three-member cabinet panel formed to take immediate measures to restore normalcy in the Marad region where nine people were hacked to death in a surprise communal attack on May 2.

Making it clear at a press conference yesterday, Samajam Secretary T. Suresh expressed displeasure over the ongoing probe into the massacre and reiterated the demand of a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry.

The cabinet sub-committee was set up the other day with Public Works Department Minister M.K. Muneer as Convenor and Cooperation Minister M.V. Raghavan and Health Minister P. Sankaradn as members to ensure speedy communal harmony in the strife-torn area. Suresh charged that Industries Minister P.K. Kunjhalikutty was responsible for the recent attack and he should resign from the cabinet and apologise to the locals.

Samajam leaders also demanded that the Marad mosque, which had been taken over by the Kozhikode district administration after bloodstained weapons were found in it, should not be handed over to anybody unless the case was over.

Some of the suspects behind the attack were also found taking shelter in the mosque. The visit of E. Ahamed, MP, to the mosque yesterday was provocative, said Suresh.