THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Political parties are trying to make their presence felt following the death of a middle-aged prisoner in the Neyyatinkara sub-jail on Friday night. The CPM, which is on the defensive following the resignation of R Selvaraj from the MLA post, is in the forefront of the protest over the death of the prisoner.Thankamani, 55, a remand prisoner in a cheating case, died in the jail on Friday night. Following the death, CPM joined hands with Vaikunta Swami Dharma Pracharana Sabha, a pro-Nadar organisation, and lost no time to organise a protest march in the town."This is not the first time that such a death had happened in the area. Earlier the protest by the CPM was not this strong. They had never joined hands with VSDP earlier. The sudden collaboration with them shows the party’s desperate attempt to save face. They are striving ard to give a feeling to the Nadar community that the party is still with them. The politicisation of the custodial death is an attempt by the CPM to gain political mileage,” sources claimed.Thankamani belonged to the Nadar community. At Neyyatinkara, the damage caused by the quitting of Selvaraj is something which had put the CPM on the defensive. The party is vigilant that it should not hurt the feelings of the community which is potent enough to determine any poll outcome in the Assembly segment. CPM area committee secretary V Rajendran dismissed the a llegations."We did not have any understanding with VSDP. We viewed the custodial death from a humanitarian angle only,’’ he said. According to Neyyatinkara DySP P Gopakumar, “The death of Thankamani was due to cardiac arrest according to the autopsy report.’’
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