Two people died in Kasargod, located in the northernmost part of Kerala, after a Muslim League function to felicitate the party's new state president Panakkad Hyderali Shihab Thangal and general secretary P.K.Kunhalikuty turned violent.
One person died in police firing while another by stab wounds.
Kaithakad Shafeeq died after amid the police firing, while the body of Askar was found with stab wounds in a city lane.
The violence began began after unknown men pelted stones at a Muslim League rally, which was on its way to the venue of felicitation. Suddenly, activists of the estranged League threw stones at the police and the shops and establishments.
The police had to resort to firing and this resulted in the death of Shafeeq.
League leader and former minister Cherkulam Abdullah, while speaking to rediff.com over telephone, alleged that the police had been trying to attack the League workers for the past three months and charged the police for having fomented the violence.
He said the police should conduct a detailed investigation to find who had started pelting stones against the League rally and added that League workers would never have triggered the incident, as it was the felicitation programme of their party state president.
Muslim League state general secretary P.K.Kunhalikutty told rediff.com that the party leadership was trying hard to control the workers and to reduce the damage caused.
He also accused the police of not having been prepared well for the situation, as there had been incidents of violence between the political parties in Kasargod for past several months.
The Muslim League, the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the BJP have equal strength in Kasargod. Police sources told rediff.com that at present the identity of those who first pelted the stones could not be ascertained.
Additional Director General of Police, North Zone, Mahesh Kumar Singla is at the trouble-torn spot, while a company of 250 policemen has been posted in Kasargode.
Police sources pointed out that the League workers had destroyed flags, boards and banners of other political parties and that this could have started the violence.
