Thiruvananthapuram: The Congress party in Kerala has extended its support to former CPM Kannur district committee member Manu Thomas, who recently received threats over his criticism of veteran leader P. Jayarajan. 

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K. Sudhakaran stated that the Congress would guarantee Thomas's safety if the CPM had any intentions of eliminating him, as they did with TP Chandrasekaran. The response came in the wake of Akash Thillenkari issuing threats to Thomas in a Facebook post.

Thomas, recently ousted from the CPM district committee, has alleged that he has received a threat on Facebook from Akash Thillankeri, an accused in several criminal cases.

"'The killers are backed by the protection offered by the Chief Minister and the CPM. If the CPM believes they can silence dissenting voices as they did with TP Chandrasekaran, Congress stands ready to protect them," stated Sudhakaran.

In the Facebook post, Thillankeri warned Thomas that it “would not take long to silence dissent against the party” and that the media and businessmen would not offer protection to him.

The threat was posted on the Red Army Facebook page, where Thomas had earlier criticised P. Jayarajan and others close to him for colluding with gold smuggling gangs.