RETURN OF GANGSTORS

Recent two murders happened in Trivandrum,  have rocked the city putting the spotlight on gang wars. Sending shock waves across the capital, two murders were reported in different parts of the city on Friday night within a gap of  three hours. The first murder took place at a residence in Kannammoola  while the second one happened  at a public road at Karakkamandapam near Nemom. In both incidents, gang rivalry and its retaliations led to the murder of two youths. It is reported that the key culprits in both the attacks were recently released after detention under Kerala Anti Social Activities Prevention Act.

Kannammoola, the heart of the city, has now turned the hub of criminal activities.Ever since the rise of goons like Puthenpalam Rajesh and Dini Babu, the area has been witnessing violence for the last one year. Dini Babu was once a member of the gang led by Rajesh. However he left the gang after differences cropped up with Rajesh on the financial matters regarding smuggling of river sand. Following this the gang divided into two factions.Though police arrested the gang leaders invoking KAPPA the members of the gang controlled the activities.It is reported that the stone quarries and sand mining mafia used these gangs for the smooth functioning of the quarries and all their operations and also for threatening the local people who objects or make complaints to the police or other authorities. Even the officials are also afraid to take any action against these gangs.

From these two incidents took place in the city, it is also noted that many new youths were involved in goon activities. A senior police official said it was the false glamour of power, flashy lifestyle and money which lured the many youths to be part of these gangs.They are also maintaining relationship with political leaders to accomplish their vested interests.Majority of the gangsters are lodged in jails after booking them in various offences. As per the statistics available  a total of 43 arrests were made in the year 2015 under KAPPA. However the data indicates that the new LDF government also took initiative to book the gangsters under KAPPA and to  put them behind the bars.

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MARATHA CONUNDRUM

In Mumbi, a 15 year-old girl was brutally gang-raped and killed by three men.The girl was belong to Maratha community. The victim's private parts has been mutilated and her hands and teeth found broken. The incident generated shock waves across the state. All the three culprits were arrested, which did not subside the anger prevalent in the Maratha community. At the time of the incident these three culprits were drinking liquor to celebrate the purchase of a motor cycle.When the body was found by the villagers, who were mostly from Maratha community, they couldn't take the body to the hospital alive.The incident happened in the Kopardi village near Mumbai.

The Marathi community has been in agitation for the last several years demanding reservation in education and employment.This incident of rape and murder of a Maratha girl, aggravated the agitations sponsored by the Maratha community,which is  politically influential in Maharastra, accounting for about 34 percent of the State's population. The incident became a powder keg for the community to agitate. The community decided without the support of any political  party or any leader to hold silent rallies across the state. These rallies are like Arab Spring originated in the Middle East or the women labor strike took place in the tea plantations of Kerala State in the year of 2014.But as usual several political parties and leaders are claiming that they are behind the agitations, even though there is no official organizers. Almost every silent rally is led by woman and they account for nearly 30 percent of the protesters.They demanded death penalty to the accused in the rape ;and murder case and to implement the reservation law.

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