Ananthu's tragic end; Minister Saseendran's conspiracy allegation sparks protests; Nilambur political battle entangled in wild boar trap

KOZHIKODE: The protest raised by the tragic death of Class 10 student Ananthu, who was electrocuted from a trap set for a wild boar, has ignited the by-election battle in Nilambur. Forest Minister AK Saseendran's response that there was a political conspiracy behind the UDF team's arrival with the protest immediately after the tragedy ignited the protests.

Minister AK Saseendran did not change his statement despite the protests by UDF leaders. The minister said that he is adamant that the Vazhikkadavu incident was a conspiracy and that there was a conspiracy since the electric trap was set to cause the accident, and asked on what evidence the UDF said it was a government-sponsored murder. Subsequently, UDF leaders and workers blocked the road to the hospital where the child was admitted and stopped the vehicle of CPM Polit Bureau member A Vijayaraghavan who arrived at the scene. Vijayaraghavan accused the Congress of playing with the child's death as a sign of political bankruptcy.

KPCC President Sunny Joseph and Opposition Leader VD Satheesan demanded that Minister Saseendran withdraw his statement and apologize. UDF candidate Aryadan Shoukath alleged that the cause of the accident was the negligence of KSEB. CPM State Secretary MV Govindan and Nilambur LDF candidate M Swaraj alleged that the Congress and UDF were playing low-level politics over the child's death. Congress Working Committee member Ramesh Chennithala said that the government cannot run away from responsibility.

At the same time, independent candidate PV Anvar took the opportunity to attack Aryadan Shoukath. Anvar said that he does not see the incident as an election issue and that it was not a wildlife-human conflict. He said that the UDF should have held a demonstration instead of blocking the hospital road and clarified that Shoukath's statement that it was a government-sponsored murder was not true. He also demanded that Shoukath apologize.