BJP man killed in Kerala amid clashes with CPM

State BJP president Kummanam Rajasekharan alleged that the CPM was behind the murder.

A BJP worker was on Wednesday night killed at Dharmadam in Kerala’s Kannur district. Dharmadam is represented in the Assembly by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Police identified the victim as Ezhuthan Santhosh, 52, who had contested as a BJP candidate in the last civic polls in the CPM stronghold. Santhosh was alone when a gang stormed his house around 11.30 pm on Wednesday and attacked him. He died on the way to a hospital.

State BJP president Kummanam Rajasekharan alleged that the CPM was behind the murder. CPM Kannur district secretary P Jayarajan rejected the allegations and claimed that Santosh’s murder was a fallout of a family dispute over property. He called for a detailed probe into the matter.

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Police said they were probing if the murder was a fallout of a clash between supporters of SFI and ABVP at a nearby state-run college earlier this week.

To protest against the incident, BJP observed a dawn-to-dusk hartal in Kannur district.

In another incident in the district, a crude bomb was hurled at an RSS office at Taliparamba. No casualty was reported in the incident. In retaliation, BJP workers damaged offices of CITU and CPM.

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