Following the murder of two political leaders in less than 12 hours, prohibitory orders Section 144 were clamped in the district for two days.
SDPI state secretary Shan KS (38) was stabbed to death by an unidentified gang on Saturday night and in less than 12 hours BJP OBC Morcha leader Ranjith Sreenivasan was hacked to death outside his house on Sunday. Police said the BJP leader was out for a morning stroll when an eight-member team of assailants pounced on him and stabbed him. He died on way to the hospital, reported Hindustan Times.
The SDPI leader was attacked while he was returning home in Mannacherry on his scooter. Assailants who came in a car first hit his two-wheeler and stabbed him repeatedly when he fell down, police said. The victim received multiple fractures and head injuries and later succumbed to his wounds in a private hospital in Ernakulam. He is survived by his wife and two children, the report said.
The incidents were condemned by Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Vijayan in a tweet wrote, "The government will not allow anyone to take law into their hands. Such perpetrators will be dealt with sternly".
Police said there was no immediate provocation for the SDPI leader's murder but they suspect it could be a retaliation to the murder of an RSS worker in Vayalar last year. Clashes between RSS and SDPI workers take place regularly in many parts of the state. Last month, an RSS leader was stabbed to death in Palakkad in a similar manner.
