A Bharatiya Janata Party worker was hacked to death on Sunday night in Mukkattukara in Kerala’s Thrissur district. The BJP has accused Communist Party of India (Marxist) workers for the murder of Nirmal and has called for a strike in the district on Monday, reported ANI.
The attack on Nirmal took place during a festival at the Kokkulangara temple. Another person, Thomas, was also injured in the attack and has been hospitalised, reported The Times of India. Although BJP workers alleged political rivalry was the reason behind the killing, police officials told CNN News18 that they suspect personal enmity.
This comes almost month after a BJP worker was killed outside his home in Kannur district. A 52-year-old BJP worker was attacked by a group of unidentified men on January 18. Santosh, who was a party candidate in the last panchayat elections in Dharmadam, was alone at home when the men stabbed him to death. Six CPI(M) workers were arrested in connection with the murder.
There have been several cases of political violence involving BJP-RSS and CPI(M) workers in Kerala over the past few months. There have been at least nine political murders in Kerala since the Left Democratic Front government came to power in May 2016. Both RSS and CPI(M) have blamed the other for the bloodshed.
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