Punishment for supporting V Kunhikrishnan; Former CPM leader's shrimp farm set on fire in Kannur

KANNUR: Unidentified people set fire to the shed of the shrimp farm of former CPM leader T. Purushothaman, who was expelled by the party for supporting Payyannur MLA V. Kunhikrishnan. The shed used to store materials for shrimp farming at the farm in Kandangali was completely gutted. Former MLA T.I. Madhusoodanan and CPM workers are suspected to be behind the incident. Materials worth lakhs of rupees were gutted.

Purushothaman's nephew returned after feeding the shrimps at around 6 pm on Wednesday.

On Thursday morning, when he returned to feed them again, he found the shed burnt down. It is reported that a group had set fire to the shed after midnight the previous day. The fire was not completely extinguished even in the morning. Around 10 sacks of shrimp feed, nets, 40 trays used to transport shrimp, pipes, and furniture, including mattresses, were burnt down. The doors and windows were destroyed. Purushothaman said that it is suspected that the attack was carried out using explosives. There is also a suspicion that a poisonous liquid was mixed in the water to destroy the shrimps.

Purushothaman has been farming shrimp for two years, while he said that a few people were making life tough for him recently. In the past few days, T.I. Madhusudhanan had been speaking against Purushothaman and threatening that he would not be spared. Purushothaman's house was attacked during the assembly elections. The windows were broken in the middle of the night, and the car was set on fire. Five CPM workers were arrested in this case. V. Kunhikrishnan MLA, who visited the scene, said that this was an attempt to intimidate and subdue Purushothaman. The police reached the spot and started an investigation.