A special team was formed under Kasaragod Police Chief Dr A Sreenivasan to probe the killing of two Youth Congress workers, who were hacked to death by unidentified assailants on 17 February. Kasaragod district crime branch Deputy SP M Pradeep Kumar will be the chief investigator, reported ANI.
The Kerala DGP has contacted Karnataka police for their help in conducting probe. Two people were taken into custody and are being questioned regarding the incident.
The incident took place at around 8 pm on 17 February and the deceased were identified as Kripesh and Sarath Lal (24), the official was quoted as saying by PTI.
They were attacked by three assailants who came on motorcycles, he added.
“Two youths have been killed. We have just confirmed the identity of the deceased. Further investigation is on.”Police Official
Reacting to the incident, Congress President Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter on Monday, 18 February, saying that the brutal murder of two members of Youth Congress was ‘shocking’.
“The Congress Party stands in solidarity with the families of these two young men and I send them my deepest condolences,” Gandhi said.
“We will not rest till the murderers are brought to justice,” ANI quoted him as saying.
Congress Blames CPI(M)
Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala lashed out at the ruling CPI(M) and protested against the double murder. He will visit families of the deceased workers on Monday.
"The CPI(M) is trying to destroy the Congress party using the party goons,” he added.
“The youth congress activists were attacked without any provocation. They were not involved in any kind of criminal activities. No cases were there against them. The government should identify the culprits and arrest them as soon as possible," Chennithala told media persons.
He also alleged that the murder was a conspiracy hatched by the CPI(M) as the Lok Sabha elections are around the corner.
However, CPI(M) District Secretary MV Balakrishnan Master categorically denied any role of his party in the killings. "We strongly condemn this murder. We are against murderous politics. We don't have any role in this," he told media persons.
The workers were returning home after attending a local function on Sunday and they were stopped by a gang of unidentified people who came in a car and hacked them to death, according to sources.
The identity of the attackers was yet to the confirmed, police said.
Kerala Congress Calls For Bandh
Kerala Congress President Mullapally Ramachandran, meanwhile, said that the Kasargod unit of the party has called for a dawn-to-dusk shutdown in the district on Monday, 18 February, to protest the murder.
Addressing the media at Kochi, Ramachandran also blamed CPI(M) for the murders. “It was a plan executed by the goons attached to the CPI(M),” he said, as per IANS.
"Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who also holds the home portfolio, should explain this ghastly incident. This is not acceptable to the Kerala society... it’s high time that the CPI(M) directs its cadres to lay down arms," he said.
"This is a Kannur model murder that was neatly planned and executed in the dark," Kasargod district Congress chief K Hakkim said.
(With inputs from ANI, PTI and IANS)
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