RSS WORKER MURDERED IN KERALA
Victim was an accused in the killing of a CPI(M) activist
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A worker of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was stabbed to death on Sunday by alleged activists of the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Kerala, which has been witnessing frequent political clashes of late.
Police said Vadekkethala Anandan, 28, an accused in the murder of CPI(M) activist Mohammed Kasim five months ago, was on his motorbike when he was waylaid and attacked around 1pm in Nenmini near the temple town of Guruvayur.
Anandan was stabbed repeatedly. He was rushed to a private hospital where he died.
He was on bail and police suspect that his murder is a revenge killing.
The RSS-BJP called a shutdown on Monday in the temple town of Guruvayur in protest.
Police said they have identified the car in which Anandan’s assailants travelled.
Security has been beefed up in the area to avert further violence. Senior police officials also rushed to the spot to monitor the situation.
The CPI(M) and the RSS-BJP are engaged in a violent turf war in the state.
Earlier, the red-saffron violence was confined to north Kerala’s Kannur district but of late it has started spilling over to other parts of the state.
In Kannur, more than 200 persons belonging to both camps were killed in a three-decadelong bloodbath.
In the bloody saga of gore and revenge, the party leaders are evidently fast losing their grip on marauding cadre who are intoxicated with their ideology.
State BJP president Kummanam Rajasekharan had recently carried out a state-wide yatra against what his party called the “red and jihadi terror”. Many senior BJP leaders, including national president Amit Shah, took part in the march.
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of RSS, had organised a rally in the state capital on Saturday to protest against the “growing political intolerance” in Kerala.
“The latest killing again exposed the criminal face of the CPI(M). It never believed in democracy and the annihilation of political rivals is the trademark of the party,” said Rajasekharan while condemning the murder.
The CPI(M) Thrissur district unit denied its role in the killing.