Section 144 imposed in Alappuzha, Kerala after SDPI leader, BJP functionary killed

Following the killing of an SDPI state secretary, a BJP leader was hacked to death subsequently in 12 hours

In suspected incidents of political revenge, two political leaders were murdered in Alappuzha district of Kerala in the span of ten hours. The district administration imposed prohibitory orders in the district, considering the tense situation.

On Saturday evening, a leader of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) KS Shan was murdered and within ten hours, early Sunday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Renjith Sreenivas was murdered, the police said.

In the first incident, 36-year-old Shan is suspected to have been waylaid while riding his bike in Mannancherry and hacked to death. The police said that a gang of around seven in a car knocked his two-wheeler, and that he suffered around 40 hack injuries. He died at a hospital in Kochi, with five persons arrested in connection with the crime.

In the second incident, 45-year-old Renjith Sreenivas, who was state secretary of BJP-OBC Morcha, was hacked to death, allegedly by a gang that barged into his residence in an area under Alappuzha South police station limit in the early hours of Sunday. His mother and wife reportedly witnessed the attack, the police. Ten persons were arrested in connection with the crime.

The police said that the gang allegedly used an ambulance to travel and that it carried SDPI's label.

SDPI and BJP-RSS leaders accused each other of the killings.

Police sources said that both the incidents took place within a radius of around 10 kilometres and it was strongly suspected to be political revenge killings. A special police team is probing the cases. Heavy police deployment was also done in sensitive areas of the district to maintain law and order.

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