The death of a 15-year-old boy because of electrocution at Vazhikkadavu near bypoll-bound Nilambur in Kerala has snowballed into a political row.
Ananthu alias Jithu, a Class X student, was electrocuted on Saturday evening after coming into contact with a live wire connected to an illegal trap for wild boars. His two friends, who were injured, were admitted to a taluk hospital in Nilambur.
Police have arrested Vineesh and Kunju Muhammed in connection with the incident and an FIR has been registered under BNS Section 105 for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Vineesh has told the police that he had set the trap.
Congress workers staged a protest outside the hospital on Saturday night and clashed with the cops, who tried to disperse them.
CPM state secretary M.V. Govindan and Kerala forest minister A.K. Saseendran alleged a conspiracy behind the timing of the incident. They claimed that Vineesh was a local Congress leader and lashed out at the Opposition for calling it an "LDF government-sponsored murder".
"There’s a strong suspicion of a political conspiracy created to trigger unrest among the farming community in Nilambur when it goes to the bypoll on June 19," Saseendran said.
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan flayed the "cheap conspiracy theory" and said: “How can he make a comment linking the incident to the election campaign?"