Kannur, May 8: Political violence claimed two lives in Kerala’s Kannur district late on Monday when a CPI(M) worker was hacked to death and an RSS activist killed in retaliation.
K Babu, a local committee member of the CPM, was hacked to death around 9pm in Mahe, which borders Kannur district.
In a press statement issued by its Kannur unit, the Left party blamed the killing on the RSS. The "brutal murder of K Babu, a former councillor and an active member of the party, by the RSS activists shows that they (RSS) are in no mood to end the politics of violence, that they have been carrying out," it said.
The CPM also called for a strike on Tuesday. “There was a RSS camp that was going on Kuthuparampu and this incident occurred after it got over. Babu last year also came under attack. To protest this murder, the CPI (M) has called for a shutdown in Kannur and Mahe," it said.
The Indian Express quoted Pallur SHO R Shanmukham as saying that Babu was hacked by an unidentified gang at 9.15 pm about 200 meters away from his house. “He sustained mortal injuries on neck. Prima facie, it seems to be a political murder. There had been stray incidents of violence in the region involving BJP and CPI (M) in the past. However, there hadn’t been any issue in the recent days.”
Mahe, is situated between Thalassery in the politically volatile Kannur district and Vatakara in Kozhikode district. It is an enclave of Union Territory Puducherry.
Soon after the attack on Babu, an RSS worker named Parambathu Shamoj, an autodriver, was attacked near New Mahe, news agency reported. She was taken to a nearby hospital, but succumbed to her injuries.
Police, while launching a manhunt for the killers, have launched combing operations in the area to keep the situation in control.
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