Four Right Wing Men Arrested For Murder Of CPM Worker In Kerala's Kannur

Four workers of the BJP and its ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS have been arrested in connection to the murder of a CPM worker in Kerala's Kannur. Investigation indicated that political rivalry is the reason behind the murder, the police said. Further investigation is in progress, the police said.

Fifty-four-year-old Haridasan K, a fisherman, was hacked to death outside his house at 1.20 am on Monday.

Since November, there have been four to five instances where there have been allegations of political murders in the state.

In November, an RSS worker, S Sanjith, was hacked to death -- allegedly by the workers of the SDPI, which is the political wing of the People's Front of India.

In December, two political leaders from the BJP and SDPI (Social Democratic Party of India) were murdered in Alappuzha.

SDPI state secretary KS Shaan was stabbed to death while he was on way home. Less than 12 hours later, unidentified men barged into the house of the BJP's Renjith Sreenivasan, who was the Secretary of the party's OBC unit, and hacked him to death.

After the murder of Ranjith Sreenivas, junior home minister Nityanand Rai said the Kerala government is attempting to crush the increasing popularity of the BJP in the state by resorting to any means. He also accused the state government of protecting people involved in the murder.

There has been a huge spike in violence in Kannur, one of the most politically volatile areas of the state, since the CPM-led Left Democratic Front came to power in 2016. Most of the clashes have taken place between the workers of the CPM and the BJP and RSS.