By IANS,
Kochi: The Kerala police are looking into the activities of a Dalit organisation after two of its key leaders were arrested in a murder case, an official said here Monday.
Speaking about the Dalit Human Rights Movement (DHRM), Director General of Police Jacob Punnoose told reporters here: “We know of this organization but we have to probe whether they have any terror links.”
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition Oommen Chandy criticised the police for not doing enough to curb the activities of DHRM.
He was speaking to reporters in Thiruvananthapuram after visiting the house of Sivaprasad, a resident of Varkala who was brutally murdered allegedly by a DHRM activist last Wednesday.
DHRM has a strong base in Varkala, especially among the numerous colonies where Dalits live.
“It is unfortunate that the Kerala home department failed to find out the activities of the DHRM. Even though there have been increased reports of DHRM taking to violence, the police failed to act. At the same time, one should not brand all Dalits in this manner,” said Chandy.
Two activists of the DHRM arrested Sunday were remanded in judicial custody Monday. Those arrested include Ashokan, an advocate, and Das – both key leaders of DHRM.
Meanwhile, Sasi, a resident of one of the colonies where DHRM has a strong presence, told reporters that while his close relatives had joined the DHRM, he had not.
“Since I refused to join them, I was badly beaten up by my own brother, though we never had any enmity before,” said Sasi, who ekes out a living doing odd jobs.
Another person from the same place said the activities of DHRM are quite strange.
“The members of this group, even if they belong to the same family, address each other in a different manner. Their ideology too sounded strange and was not acceptable to me and I stayed away,” said the person.
Kumari was in tears as she recounted to reporters how her son was brutally beaten up by members of DHRM after he refused to join them.