Sujith, 27, was killed by the CPM, the BJP has claimed.
In Kannur's Pappinassery panchayat, neighbours have gathered at the house where 27-year-old Sujith used to live. One of the handful of BJP workers in this CPM bastion, he was hacked to death late on Monday night, allegedly by more than 15 CPM sympathisers.
In Sujith's room, his clothes are still hanging. His mother is yet to come to terms with her son's murder. "Nothing but politics took my son's life. He was threatened even before," said Sujith's father, Janardhanan P. Both parents were attacked as they tried to save their son.
Sujith is the last of the 41 people killed over politics in Kannur over the last decade. Of the deceased, 19 were from CPM, 17 from RSS, two from NDF and three from IUML.
The figures alone tell a tale of the long-standing tussle between the CPM and RSS in this politically volatile district. Of late, the vote-share of BJP - a party electorally on the fringes -- has seen a marginal rise, in select wards in the local bodies' elections.
Sujith, a one-time CPM activist, played an active role in that since he joined the BJP three years ago. This, the BJP leaders say, was why he was killed.
"CPM removes or kills anyone who is working for the BJP and is becoming a major influence. They are scared and this is their strategy," said advocate AV Keshavan.
Denying any role in Sujith's murder, CPM leaders cite examples of their own party victims. Like 27-year-old Samesh admitted in AKG hospital, who lost his leg after RSS activists allegedly hurled a country-made bomb at him in January.
While Kannur CPM district secretary, P Jayarajan, is in judicial custody for allegedly killing an RSS worker in 2014, 26 CPM workers have been acquitted by the High Court this week in cases of political murders, for lack of evidence against them.
"The BJP, RSS try to spread communal violence and it is only the CPM which resists them. That's why we are being targetted. It's our cadre who get killed, but no one asks about that," CPM Parliamentarian KK Ragesh told NDTV.
"While incidents of political murders have reduced, the political backing enjoyed by the accused people remain a challenge," police sources told NDTV.