A district leader of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was hacked to death in north Kerala’s Kannur on Monday even as BJP president Amit Shah began his two-day visit to the state to expand party base.
RSS-BJP leaders alleged that the CPI(M) was behind the killing and called for a dawn-to-dusk state hartal on Tuesday.
E Manoj was first waylaid, had a bomb hurled at him and was finally stabbed to death in Kathirur, allegedly by a group of CPI(M) workers.
Another party sympathiser was also seriously injured in the attack.
The deceased, Manoj, was an accused in the attack against CPI(M) district secretary P Jayarajan in 1999.
This is the second political murder in a week. Last week, a BMS (Sangh trade union outfit) worker was hacked to death in a similar fashion. “Dwindling cadre base has forced the CPM to resort to violence. The party has to pay a heavy price for politics of violence,” said senior RSS leader P Gopalan Kutty.
Notorious for bloody clashes between red and saffron forces, tension gripped the area after the murder.
Desperate to get a foothold in the state, the BJP has been trying to placate disgruntled CPI(M) workers in many areas. Recently, several CPI(M) sympathisers moved to the BJP camp, leading to tense situations.
{{/usCountry}}Desperate to get a foothold in the state, the BJP has been trying to placate disgruntled CPI(M) workers in many areas. Recently, several CPI(M) sympathisers moved to the BJP camp, leading to tense situations.
{{/usCountry}}The enmity between two cadre-based outfits dates back to three decades and more than 200 activists from both camps have been killed in violent clashes.