Thiruvananthapuram: Renewed political violence pitching the Communist Party of India Marxist (CPM) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has claimed two lives — one from each side — in north Kerala, leading to a shutdown strike in two localities on Tuesday.
The murders happened on Monday in federally-ruled Mahe, which falls under the Puducherry administration. The shutdowns were observed on Tuesday in Mahe and Kannur.
The deceased were identified as CPM leader Kanippoyil Babu, 47 and Bharatiya Janata Party activist, Shamej, 36.
Babu was attacked around 9pm on Monday as he was riding a two-wheeler on way to his home. The assailants, numbering 10, stopped his bike and attacked him. He was rushed to the Thalassery Indira Gandhi Co-operative Hospital, but could not be saved.
The attack on Shamej, considered to be a revenge attack, came within an hour. Shamej, an autorickshaw driver, was hacked by a gang reportedly numbering eight persons. He was rushed to the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital, but succumbed to injuries.
Kerala director general of police, Loknath Behera described the killings as “unfortunate”, and said the assailants would be tracked down soon.
Earlier this year, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker Shyama Prasad was killed in January and Youth Congress worker Shuhaib was hacked to death in February.
Normal life was crippled in Mahe and Kannur on Tuesday as both CPM and RSS activists obstructed free movement of vehicles, and most of the business establishments also remained closed.
Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala criticised the CPM-led state government, alleging that the law and order in the state had crumbled.
