BJP, CPM spar over MLA daughter's abduction

MANGALORE/THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The assault on Kerala MLA C H Kunhambu's daughter and her Muslim friend in Mangalore assumed political overtones on Sunday with the BJP and the CPM accusing each other of playing politics over the issue.
A statement by P P Hegde, advocate for the accused, that the accused are activists of Democratic Youth Federation of India raised the heckles of Mangalore's Left party leaders.
At an all-party meeting chaired by Karanataka home minister V S Acharya here on Sunday, B Madhava, CPM's Mangalore district secretary, said the five people arrested in the case - Raju alias Rajesh, the bus time keeper, mechanic Ranjith, bus driver Aravind Das, bus conductor Satish from Kasargod and Prakash, a local - had anything to do with Left organisations, including DYFI. ""They are either activists of Bajrang Dal or Congress,'' he said.
DYFI district president Muneer Katipalla said, "Each DYFI member is attached to a particular unit and we maintain their records. They are not from our group.''
The BJP, which has been caught on the backfoot after its name was dragged into the incident, directed the ire on Kunhambu saying the CPM was trying to tarnish the BJP's image. The MLA was playing divisive politics using his daughter, party youth wing BJYM state president K Surendran alleged.
Kunhambu hit back saying he was not desperate to play politics using his daughter. The MLA said he did not expect to get justice from Karnataka police and alleged that the BJP was trying to establish that the accused belonged to the CPM.