According to Nedumangad police, the trouble began on Sunday night after SDPI activists allegedly attacked a local CPI(M) leader.
Published Oct 20, 2025 | 7:25 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 20, 2025 | 7:25 PM
Ambulance set ablaze. (Supplied)
Synopsis: In what is suspected to be a retaliatory move, an ambulance operated by the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the youth wing of the CPI(M), was set ablaze in the early hours of Monday, 20 October.
Tension gripped Nedumangad in Thiruvananthapuram district after a clash between workers of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) on Sunday, 19 October, evening led to a series of violent incidents, including the torching of an ambulance.
According to Nedumangad police, the trouble began on Sunday night after SDPI activists allegedly attacked a local CPI(M) leader.
In the hours that followed, unidentified individuals reportedly targeted the houses of SDPI workers. Masked assailants were seen damaging an ambulance and a car belonging to an SDPI activist.
In what is suspected to be a retaliatory move, an ambulance operated by the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the youth wing of the CPI(M), was set ablaze in the early hours of Monday, 20 October.
The vehicle was parked near the Nedumangad District Hospital when it was torched.
Another ambulance was also damaged in the violence. Police have launched an investigation to determine whether the incidents are linked and to identify those involved.
Patrolling has been intensified in the area to prevent further clashes. Meanwhile, DYFI Kerala has condemned the attack, calling it “inhumane and condemnable.”
“The SDPI action of setting fire to the Red Care Ambulance of the DYFI Thiruvananthapuram Nedumangad Block Committee is inhumane and we protest it. The attack on an ambulance that provides comfort and support to poor patients as part of DYFI’s service activities exposes the anti-human face of SDPI,” the DYFI State Secretariat said in a statement.
The organisation alleged that “communal and right-wing groups” targeted the ambulance out of resentment over the support DYFI’s charitable initiatives have received from the public. DYFI also demanded strict legal action against those responsible and called for a comprehensive investigation into the incident.
Police said the situation is being closely monitored.
(Edited by Sumavarsha, with inputs from Dileep V Kumar)
