Kozhikode: At a time when the Pinarayi Vijayan government is struggling hard to counter the allegation that the police in Kerala are pro-Sangh Parivar, city police have given a communal twist to the issues cropped up during the burial of Kuppu Devaraj , the Maoist leader who was gunned down in Nilambur forest.In reply to a notice issued by the state human rights commission (SHRC), city police chief J Jayanath said the police intervened during the burial to avoid 'communal violence'. SHRC issued a notice to the police on a complaint from C T Muneer, a social activist, who alleged that the police officers misbehaved with Sreedhar, brother of Kuppu. The complaint was filed on the basis of media reports that the then assistant commissioner of police (special branch) M P Premadas caught Sreedhar by collar during the cremation.The BJP had opposed the move to keep the body for people to pay their last respects at Muthalakkulam and Pottammal. "In case of any clash between the supporters and opponents of Kuppu Devaraj it would have been ended in a communal violence since the opponents are mainly Hindu organizations and majority of the supporters were Muslims," said the reply.The city police chief even alleged that political parties such as SDPI, Welfare Party and RMP were 'supporters of the Left wing extremists'. However, the letter is silent on the presence of CPI leader and former minister Benoy Viswom, who came there to pay homage to Kuppu Devaraj in front of the mortuary.The letter further stated that "general public and some political parties like the BJP and Hindu organizations had planned to obstruct displaying the dead body in public places." In fact, no political party other than the BJP had raised objection against the public display of the body.The police chief said that there was an agreement between the supporters of the Maoists and the police that the body would be cremated as soon as possible and there would not be any public display at the crematorium. However, the Maoist supporters broke the agreement and made an attempt to delay the cremation inordinately. "Had the police not intervened the cremation would have been delayed and there was every chance of a law and order situation," claimed the police.Meanwhile, RMP state secretariat member K S Hariharan said the letter has exposed the communal face of the Kerala police.

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