Kerala has become safe haven for radicals: Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar
Union Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Thursday asked the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government in Kerala to cooperate with the Karnataka government to identify and arrest the culprits involved in killing of BJP worker Praveen Nettaru in Dakshina Kannada district.
Alleging that Left-ruled Kerala has become a ''safe haven'' for radical elements, the Union Minister said evidence has revealed that Praveen Nettaru's murderers used a motorbike with its number registered in Kerala.
''Kerala under Pinarayi Vijayan has become a safe haven for these kinds of radical elements linked to PFI and SDPI. This is because of political protection they enjoy from some quarters in the Kerala government,'' the BJP Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka told media here.
''The Karnataka government will hunt them down. The Kerala government must cooperate with Karnataka in making sure these people are identified and arrested rather than protected,'' he said.
"Radical elements knew that their safe haven is Kerala where they can go to hide because of political protection by the government. Over 22 people have been killed in Kerala alone by these radicals under the current government," he claimed.
Alleging that the PFI has been involved in fuelling ''destability, violence and communal disharmony'' across the country, he said, “There is a clear pattern to that. The organisation was actively involved in fuelling protests over the Hijab issue and in agitation against the farm laws.”
Some state governments, including that of the Congress in Rajasthan, have long appeased the PFI by giving it protection in return for political support, Chandrasekhar alleged.