A Bharatiya Janata Party member in Bengaluru was hacked to death on the outskirts of the city near Anekal, PTI reported on Thursday. Harish, 40, was the vice president of the party’s SC/ST Yuva Morcha’s Anekal unit.

The police said Harish was returning home on Wednesday night when the incident took place near Ramsagara Gate. The attackers threw chilli powder into his eyes before hacking him to death, the police said, according to PTI.

Personal rivalry is suspected to be the reason behind the murder. According to a report in The Hindu, Harish had a heated argument with a relative, Raju, recently. Raju and his siblings had been fishing at a pond illegally for which Harish had reprimanded them.

Advertisement

On Wednesday, Harish is believed to have gone to Raju’s house where a huge fight had ensued between them, according to the report in The Hindu. BJP workers attacked Raju’s house after Harish’s death was reported.

BJP State President BS Yeddyurappa expressed shock over Harish’s death. “From IAS officers to political activists, no one seems safe under Congress rule,” he said on Twitter.

This is the second such murder of a BJP worker in Karnataka’s Capital city. On March 14, a Bommasandra Municipal council member was hacked to death in Bengaluru.