Pappinissery tense

KANNUR: A tense situation prevailed at Pappinissery and nearby areas for the second day on Wednesday following clashes between Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) workers.



Arsonists targeted shops and two-wheelers in spite of the large deployment of police personnel in the area.



Two motorcycles and a furniture shop were set on fire and two shops were attacked by workers of rival parties at



The latest incidents have given rise to fears of another spell of violence in the area which recently witnessed clashes between CPI(M) and Popular Front of India (PFI) workers.



The furniture shop owned by an IUML activist K.P. Musthafa at Illippuram was set ablaze by suspected CPI(M) workers in the early hours of Wednesday.



The police said a patrolling team first noticed the fire. The arsonists were said to have poured petrol through the ventilator window of the shop and set it afire. Many of the furniture items in the shop were destroyed in the fire.



The arsonists also set fire to two motorcyles parked in the compound of a house of IUML sympathiser M. Afsal at Puthiyakavu. The two-wheelers were completely damaged in the fire.



The office of the Pappinissery Co-operative Tiles Company at Pappinissery West came under attack by alleged IUML activists.



All the window panes of the office were broken in the attack. The attackers also destroyed pots and hollow bricks manufactured by the company.



The trouble erupted on Monday night leading to incidents of retaliatory attacks in the area.