Praveen Murder case: Kerala has become safe haven for radicals, says Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar

PTI, Jul 28, 2022, 5:42 PM IST

With the Karnataka police arresting two persons over the murder of a BJP youth wing worker, the party alleged Thursday Left-ruled Kerala has become a ”safe haven” for radical elements who commit brazen killings in the neighbouring state.

Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said evidence has revealed that Praveen Nettar’s murderers used a motorbike with its number registered in Kerala, and he asked the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government to cooperate with the Karnataka government in making sure the accused are identified and arrested rather than protected.

”Kerala under Pinarayi Vijayan has become a safe haven for these kind of radical elements linked to PFI and SDPI. It has become so because of political protection they enjoy from some quarters in the Kerala government. This makes it easier for people to commit these kind of brazen killing as they believe they will be protected,” the BJP MP from Karnataka told PTI.

”The Karnataka government will hunt them down. The Kerala government must cooperate with Karnataka in making sure these people are identified and arrested rather than protected,” he said.

The Popular Front of India (PFI) is an Islamic organisation and the Social Democratic Party of India is its political wing. The BJP has often accused the PFI of extremist activities and spreading communal tensions. The PFI, whose members have been arrested in different parts of India on different charges, has denied the allegation.

Nettar, a Zilla BJP Yuva Morcha committee member, was hacked to death in front of his broiler shop in Bellare by three bike-borne person Tuesday night. Some right wing outfits have suspect it to be a targeted killing in a region where communal violence is not uncommon.

The Karnataka police on Thursday arrested two persons — Zakir (29) and Mohammed Shafiq (27) — for allegedly being part of the murder conspiracy As Karnataka witnessed protests in different places over Nettar’s murder and many BJP workers also expressing their anger, Chandrasekhar said he like people of the state was angry too over this brazen violence.

Such radical elements, he said, will never be in Karnataka because they know they will be hunted down. ”They know they have a safe haven in Kerala where they can go to hide because of political protection by the government.” Over 22 people have been killed in Kerala alone by these radicals under the current government, he claimed.

Asked if the Union government will consider banning the organiation, he said this is for it to decide.

There is enough evidence that the PFI and the SDPI have tried to support every movement that has targeted the government of India, he said.

He said the PFI has been involved in fuelling ”destability, violence and communal disharmony” across the country, adding there is a clear pattern to that. The organisation was actively involved in fuelling protests over the Hijab issue and in agitation against the farm laws, he said.

Some state governments, including that of the Congress in Rajasthan, have long appeased the PFI by giving it protection in return for political support, Chandrasekhar alleged.