Kottayam(Ker), Jan 20 (PTI) The opposition Congress on Thursday alleged that the notorious gangster, who had allegedly killed a 19-year-old man and dumped his body in front of a police station here recently, was a CPI(M) activist and there is political interference to protect him.

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The Marxist party was protecting goons and criminals were unleashing violence in the state, but Chief Minister

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Pinarayi Vijayan was 'trivialising' such incidents as isolated ones, charged leader of opposition in the assembly, V D Satheesan.

He was speaking to reporters after visiting the family of Shan Babu, who was allegedly tortured and killed by gangster Jomon K Jose (40) and others on Sunday night.

He further accused the ruling party of 'misusing' its political clout for diluting charges slapped on goons under the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act (KAPA).

"It is the CPI(M) that is protecting the goons. The problem is not with the law but with its enforcement. The criminal who killed the 19-year-old youth is a CPI(M) activist. There has been political interference to protect him," Satheesan alleged.

Pointing out that goons can be imprisoned only under Section 3 of the KAPA Act, he said only after further examination of the police report can the appeal committee drop the charges levelled against a goonda.

Was such a police report considered while dropping the charges levelled against the goon who had killed Babu? the Congress leader asked.

He also sought to know whether the appeal committee had considered his (Jose) application without the police report.

"How did this man who was exiled from the district under the KAPA Act, return? Even if the KAPA charges were suspended, the police should have kept an eye on such a goon. The police has become a mute spectator," the Congress leader said.

According to police, Babu was allegedly tortured and killed by Jose and his fellow gangsters.

The arrest of Jose was already recorded in connection with the shocking incident, which triggered widespread protest across the State.

Besides Jose, four of his fellow gangsters were also taken into custody by the police on Tuesday.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)