Eight people were detained on 30 July in connection with the murder of an RSS worker in Thiruvananthapuram on 29 July. All of them have been sent to police custody.
The Kerala unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called for a statewide shutdown on Sunday to protest the killing of a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activist allegedly by Communist Party of India (CPI-M) loyalists.
The 34-year-old RSS worker, who was hacked to death on 29 July, breathed his last at a private hospital. The deceased has been identified as E Rajesh, who was a ‘Karyavahak’ attached to the RSS unit at Sreekariyam.
Meanwhile, in an unprecedented move, Kerala Governor P Sathasivam summoned Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to discuss the law and order situation in the state.
Sathasivam quoted Vijayan as saying that law-breakers would be dealt with sternly and that he would meet both state BJP President Kummanam Rajasekharan and the state RSS chief and make a public appeal for peace.
Rajasekheran, who visited the hospital, told reporters that this was a result of state-sponsored violence.
The CPI-M led government has become a mute witness to the violence going on in the state capital district. Even our state party headquarters was attacked. But we exercised restraint. But now, we are left with no other option but to call for a statewide shutdown tomorrow (Sunday) to protest the killing (of Rajesh). The state government has not even called for a peace talk to resolve issues.
According to the BJP, Rajesh was hacked by four suspected youth wing activists of the CPI-M, who came on two motorcycles. He suffered serious injuries in his face, hands and legs, and according to the BJP, his left hand was severed and thrown away.
The killing comes a day after a group of CPI-M workers led by local Councillor IP Binu smashed six vehicles parked in the state committee office of the BJP.
After the attack at the BJP headquarters, the residence of the son of CPI-M state Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan was stoned.
For the past two weeks, an uneasy calm has been prevailing in the capital district, with the activists of the BJP and the CPI-M attacking each other every now and then.
Thiruvananthapuram district CPI-M Secretary Anavoor Nagappan, in a statement issued on Saturday night, said that the CPI-M had no role in this incident.
There were some local issues in the area and in this incident, the CPI-M has no role.
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