Kerala mass murder: Neighbours, relatives in shock; say accused was a good person
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): The 23-year-old man, who on Monday allegedly killed five people including his 13-year-old brother and seriously injured his mother, was a good natured, mild mannered and soft spoken person according to neighbours and relatives.
None of the relatives or neighbours could believe that the accused, Afan, could commit the murders.
A woman who runs a tea-shop near Afan's home told a TV channel on Tuesday that the accused loved his brother and used to take care of him.
"I cannot believe he did it. He was a good boy. There is not a single bad thing we can say about him. Saw his (accused) younger brother yesterday afternoon also. Did not know what had happened till the police arrived," she said.
Similar responses came from other neighbours and relatives who could not believe Afan carried out the killings.
While the accused claimed to have killed six persons, his mother survived the attack on her and is presently hospitalised.
Afan's arrest is yet to be recorded by the police as he is presently hospitalised at the Thiruvananthapuram medical college after he claimed to have consumed poison.
Police have not yet officially divulged details of the case including motive behind the murders and the weapon used for carrying out the killings.
However, some news reports claim that financial crisis in the family was the motive behind the killings and that Afan allegedly used a hammer to carry out the murders.
The other victims were Afan's grandmother in her 80s, a young woman said to be his lover, his paternal uncle and the latter's wife.
The mass murder took place across three houses, reportedly separated by around 20-25 kilometers, in the Venjaramoodu area near the state capital.
He is suspected to have travelled from one house to the other on his motorbike to carry out the murders, police said, but did not disclose the exact sequence in which he allegedly carried out the killings.
The incident came to light when Afan appeared at the Venjaramoodu police station on Monday evening and confessed to carrying out the murders.
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'Last rites' of INDIA bloc: BJP on Cong-DMK fallout in Tamil Nadu
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Wednesday took a swipe at the Congress for extending support to Vijay's TVK in forming the government in Tamil Nadu and breaking away from its long term ally DMK, saying the party has a history of "betraying" its allies.
The saffron party also attacked the opposition INDIA bloc, claiming the alliance is "falling apart like a pack of cards" and lacks any common ideology or vision.
The Tamil Nadu Congress has decided to support TVK leader Vijay in forming a secular government in the state, sources said.
The decision to support the TVK was taken at an urgent meeting of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of Tamil Nadu Congress late on Tuesday night.
Reacting to the development, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed the INDIA alliance had effectively come to an end after the declaration of assembly election results on May 4.
"There is nobody whom the Congress has not deceived. Imagine what they will do to the Samajwadi Party if they have done this to the DMK," he wrote in a post on X.
Calling it the "last rites" of the INDIA bloc, Poonawalla, in a video post, said, "It has become a Bharat free of the DMK, TMC and the Left, and now Congress has dumped the DMK for the TVK."
The BJP spokesperson alleged that the opposition bloc was formed solely out of political compulsions and personal ambitions.
"The INDI alliance never had any mission or vision. It was only about ambition for position, corruption, commission and obsession against Modi ji that they came together. But now it is all falling apart like a pack of cards," he said.
Questioning the unity of the opposition parties, Poonawalla said the alliance was absent in several states during the election.
"Where was the INDI alliance in Bengal, in Kerala, in Gujarat, in Punjab, in Delhi, in Haryana, in Karnataka? There is no INDI alliance," he said.
The DMK on Wednesday described the Congress move to extend support to TVK as a "backstab" by its long-time national ally.
Speaking to PTI videos, DMK spokesperson Saravanan Anadurai said, "The Congress party has decided to ally with the TVK, pledging their support to the party. I think they have backstabbed... They have backstabbed the people of Tamil Nadu. They've backstabbed the mandate given by the people of Tamil Nadu."
He said that the decision came even before the electoral process had fully concluded.
"Even before the ink on the returning officer's signature on the victory certificate dried up, they've chosen to go ahead with an alliance," he said.
Vijay's TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, falling short of the halfway mark. He needs the support of 10 MLAs to form a government with a simple majority. The results were declared only on Monday.
The Congress has won five seats, while the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) has bagged four seats. The CPI and CPI-M have two seats each. The outgoing ruling party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), has won 59 seats while the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has won 47 seats.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won only one seat, and so have the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) and the Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazagam (AMMK), while the VCK has won two seats.
The Congress had fought the assembly polls in a pre-poll alliance with the DMK, while the BJP had a tie-up with the AIADMK.
