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New Delhi: The killing of two political leaders from the BJP and the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) in Kerala’s coastal Alappuzha district within a span of 12 hours has prompted police to impose Section 144 in the district to avert further slide in the law and order situation.
Taking cognisance of the matter, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has condemned the killings and assured stern action against the culprits.
On Saturday, December 18, night when K.S. Shan, the state secretary of SDPI, was on his way home, a group of assailants in a car rammed into his two-wheeler. When Shan fell to ground, the assailants attacked him leading to his death. “Shan succumbed to his injuries at a Kochi hospital around midnight,” police confirmed.
Within a span of 12 hours, BJP’s OBC Morcha’s state secretary Ranjeet Sreenivas was hacked to death in his home by some assailants who barged into his house on Sunday, December 19, morning.
According to police, the fatal attack on Sreenivas, also a member of the BJP state committee, was in retaliation to the killing of Shan.
The BJP and the SDPI have accused each other of being responsible for the murders.
BJP state president K. Surendran said this is the “third brutal murder of BJP workers in last 60 days. PFI goons are trying to destabilise the state”.
The SDPI has accused the workers of the BJP’s ideological fountainhead Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to be behind Shan’s killing.
SDPI chief M.K. Faizy in a tweet wrote, “It’s part of Sangh Parivar agenda to create communal violence & disrupt the communal harmony in the state. Condemn RSS terrorism. The indifferent attitude of Kerala Police acts as a shot in the arm for RSS.”
Condemning the killings, Union minister V. Muralidharaan alleged that goondaraj (lawlessness) was rampant in Kerala, turning the state into “killing fields”.
.@VijayanPinarayi‘ Goondaraj takes yet another precious life.@BJP4OBCMorcha State Secretary Adv. Renjith Sreenivasan hacked to death by SDPI goons@CPIMKerala rule turning the state into a killing field.
No Law & Order
No security for citizens
Killers go scot-free. Shame! pic.twitter.com/VOfxJKrkeO— V Muraleedharan / വി മുരളീധരൻ (@VMBJP) December 19, 2021
Assuring action against killers, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan in a press conference said, “Such heinous and inhumane acts of violence are dangerous to the state. I am sure that all the people would be ready to identify and isolate such killer groups and their hateful attitudes.”
It maybe recalled that earlier an RSS worker, S.Sanjith, was hacked to death allegedly by the workers of the SDPI, which is the political wing of the Popular Front of India, on November 15.
(With PTI inputs)