Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 27 (BPNS)
Comrade Allungal Sreedharan who was a hero of the Pulpally police station attack on November 24, 1968, along with Comrades Vargheese, Philip M. Prasad, and K. Ajitha passed away on Friday in the Idukki district of Kerala.
Sreedharan had changed his name as Mavady Thankappan and was living in the high ranges of Kerala in Thodupuzha after his ordeal in the Pulpally police station attack. He suffered brutal police beatings along with Ajitha, Philip M.Prasad, and other Naxalite leaders. Comrade Vargheese was shot dead by police in the Pulpally forest land after he was caught while running away.
After coming out of jail in the Police station attack, he was later sentenced to life imprisonment. On hearing the sentence, Allugnal Sreedharan went underground in the high range district of Idukki in Kerala and settled there under a different name. Except for his wife and two close friends, nobody knew that the ordinary farm hand working with them in the cardamom plantations was the legendary Allungal Sreedharan.
Jiji Vargheese, CPM local secretary of Parathode while speaking to IANS said, “We did not know that it was Com Allungal who was with us. He was associated with the CPM and was in the party local committee for several years. It was after his death that his close friend informed the party and we communicated the message to Com. K. Ajitha who instantly recognized the former firebrand leader.”
In the later years, Allungal Sreedharan bought a small cardamom plantation was living a simple life along with his wife and two children. He passed away at the age of 86 due to old age-related illness.
K. Ajitha who was a heroine of the Pulpally police station attack of 1968 at the age of 18 while speaking to IANS said, “ Com Allungal Sreedharan was a bold comrade who had participated in the Malabar Special Police camp attack in 1968. We were not in touch with him after the incident and never knew whether he was alive or had passed away.”
The attack of the Malabar Special Police camp at Pulpally in Wayanad was the first guerilla attack carried out in Kerala.
