Three Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh activists were injured in an alleged attack by Communist Party of India (Marxist) members in Kerala’s Keezhaiyur village on Saturday night, PTI reported. Officials said the victims sustained injuries on their hands and legs and were undergoing treatment at a local hospital. A Bharatiya Janata Party worker was also targeted during the incident, ANI reported.
Police officials said no arrests have been made in connection with the attack yet. The victims are in their early twenties.
A spate of violent attacks have been reported recently between the Bharatiya Janata Party-RSS alliance and the ruling CPI(M). The long-standing tension between the CPI(M) and BJP appeared to escalate on March 2 after RSS’ Madhya Pradesh spokesperson Kundan Chandrawat had placed a bounty of Rs 1 crore on Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. He blamed the Left leader for deaths of RSS and BJP workers in the state. He had been removed from his post after that.
There have been at least nine political murders in Kerala since the Left Democratic Front government came to power in May 2016. Both the RSS and the CPI(M) have blamed each other for the bloodshed.
On February 12, a BJP worker was hacked to death in Thrissur district. The BJP had accused the CPI(M) of Nirmal’s murder. This came almost month after another BJP worker was killed outside his home in Kannur district.
In January, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker in Kannur was arrested in connection with a bomb hurled near a Communist Party of India function at Thalassery on January 26.
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