By IANS
Kannur (Kerala) : A Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) activist was hacked to death Sunday near the northern Kerala town of Thalassery and the party has accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of involvement in the crime.
“This murder was committed with the consent and support of the BJP and the RSS leadership. This murder is the fourth such incident here in the last two months,” P. Sasi, the district secretary of the ruling CPI-M, told reporters here.
The situation in Thalassery and the nearby areas was tense after Jitesh was murdered in the wee hours of the day.
The CPI-M has called for a ‘hartal’ (protest shutdown) Sunday in the Thalassery municipal area and the adjacent Mahe, a part of the union territory of Puducherry.
Meanwhile, the BJP has denied any role in the murder. “The BJP has no role in the murder. We condemn the incident,” said C.K. Padmanabhan, a senior BJP leader and former state unit president.
“It is not right to accuse the BJP for the crime. In Thalassery, the CPI-M also has problems with outfits like (Muslim outfit) NDF (National Democratic Front),” he said.
For the past three decades Kannur district, around 600 km north of Thiruvananthapuram, has witnessed several murders in the political rivalry between the CPI-M and the RSS-BJP combine. The district is considered a communist stronghold.