We also want to live but people are scared to talk about presence of bombs: Kannur resident

Thiruvananthapuram: A day after a 85-year-old man in Kannur died after opening an abandoned tiffin box with a bomb in it, a resident of the area on Wednesday alleged that people were scared to say anything but it is quite a common occurrence in their locality.

The issue of Velayudhan’s death in Eranjoli near Thalassery while looking for coconuts in the compound of a locked house surfaced in Kerala Assembly on Wednesday when the Congress-led Opposition brought it up.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan assured the members that the police were doing their job well and the culprits would be brought to book.

A few hours after CM Vijayan said this, Seena, a resident of Eranjoli after speaking to the newly-elected Vadakara Lok Sabha MP, Shafi Parambil, told the media that Tuesday’s blast was nothing new.

“Most of the homes which are locked are under the control of the party people. Everyone here knows what’s happening and how bombs are being made. None will ever speak out as they fear for their lives as their homes will be attacked with bombs if they do,” she alleged.

“My plea to you (media) is please help us, we also want to live. Our children are afraid to play as there are bombs everywhere,” said Seena.

Even as Seena was speaking to the media, her mother was seen asking her to stop giving such statements.

Parambil, who visited the area, said the prime accused in the frequent bomb blasts taking place in and around Kannur were the police.

“They are unable to do their job for obvious reasons and those who make these bombs have now become professionals and not a single one of these professionals have been caught. This is a big failure on the part of those who handle the Home portfolio (CM Vijayan). These professionals know that nothing will happen to them,” said Parambil.

Incidentally at the peak of the Lok Sabha poll campaign, in Thalassery a person died and two others were injured while making bombs.

Another resident, Poornachandran, who lost his left palm and right eye at Thalassery in 1998 in a similar bomb explosion involving a tiffin box, said that he shudders to think what happened to him when he was a boy.

“I was picking old things and found a tiffin box. I took it to a shop and as I was trying to open it with a hammer, an explosion took place. I was in a hospital for more than two months and I lost my left hand and right eye.

“I feel extremely sad how my childhood was lost. So many years after it happened to me, the same thing is happening at Thalassery again and again,” said Poornachandran, who now works as a clerk in the state capital.

Kerala BJP President, K Surendran said, “The CPI(M) leaders who hail from Kannur are well aware of how this is happening and none should forget this is happening in Vijayan’s hometown.

“The CPI(M) wants to move forward by keeping Kannur tense, so people will remain silent. A comprehensive probe into the two recent bomb explosions has to take place.”