A 26-year-old Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ) worker was stabbed to death in Alappuzha district’s Harippad area on Wednesday night following an altercation during a festival at a local temple, said police on Thursday. The deceased was identified as Sarath Chandran, said police.
Though the BJP alleged that the CPI(M) workers were behind the attack, police, however, said it was not a political murder and a criminal gang was suspected to be behind the crime.
Police said that the incident took place around 11. 30 pm when Chandran was returning home after the festival. “He was waylaid and stabbed by the miscreants during which he sustained multiple stab wounds.The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital but he succumbed to the injuries two hours later,” said police.
“Three people have been arrested in connection with the murder. All are part of a criminal gang. A case has been registered under Sections 302 (murder), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Harippad police station,” said police.
“The ruling CPI(M) and drug mafia have a close nexus. Another life was snuffed out. ‘Goonda raj’ is prevailing in the state and the chief minister is keeping a stiff upper lip. For the ruling party, clashes and murders are only isolated incidents,” said BJP state president K Surendran, adding, that only CPI(M) workers were getting protection these days.Three BJP workers have been killed in last three months in the state and ruling party leaders are in a race to criticise the Uttar Pradesh government, said Surendran.
Former BJP-RSS worker injured
Meanwhile, a former BJP-RSS worker P Hariprasad was grievously injured on Wednesday in a bomb blast in Vadakara (north Kerala), said police on Thursday. Hariprasad was disowned by the RSS leaders saying he was not active working with the organisation for quite some time, said the police.
The police suspect that the bomb went off accidentally while Hariprasad was assembling it. He lost both his hands in the blast, said deputy superintendent police (DSP) Abdul Sharief.
The DSP said that the area had never witnessed any political clashes in the recent past. A probe is ongoing in the matter, said the police.
