Murders of SDPI, BJP leaders spark tension in Kerala’s Alappuzha, curfew imposed

The murders of two political activists in less than 12 hours in Kerala’s Alappuzha sparked unrest in the district, prompting authorities to impose curfew on Sunday for two days to prevent escalation.

KS Shan (38), state secretary of Social Democratic Party of India, the political arm of the Popular Front of India, was knifed to death by assailants in the night of December 18. Ranjith Sreenivasan (40), state secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party’s OBC Morcha, died of stab wounds when a gang attacked him in his home on Sunday. Both the slain received more than 40 knife wounds, police said.

The authorities have detained at least 50 people in connection with the killings, inspector general of police Harshita Attaluri said. Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure were clamped in the district for two days, and police have been deployed in the area to avert any further clashes, Attaluri said.

Shan was attacked when he was returning home in Mannacherry on his scooter. The assailants, riding in a car, hit his scooter and, when he fell down, they stabbed him repeatedly, police said. He received multiple fractures and head injuries, and succumbed to wounds at a private hospital in Ernakulam. Shan is survived by his wife and two children.

Sreenivasan was attacked on Sunday morning when he was coming out of his house for a stroll, police said. He was stabbed by a group of people in front of his mother and died on the way to hospital. Sreenivasan had unsuccessfully contested the Kerala assembly election in April this year.

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan condemned the twin murders. “The government will not allow anyone to take law in their hands,” he said in state capital Thiruvananthapuram. “We will not tolerate any attempt to vitiate peaceful atmosphere of the state.”

The state government has set up a special investigation team to probe the killings under supervision of additional director general of police Vijay Sakhre. It has also called an all-party meet in Alapuzha on Monday to discuss the situation.

The SDPI alleged the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), ideological parent of the BJP, was behind Shan’s murder.

“The RSS is trying to create mayhem by eliminating political opponents and silencing minority community members. It is a well planned and executed murder,” PFI state president CP Muhammed Basheer said. RSS state leader Valsan Thillankeri was in the district on Saturday and was “aware of the cold-blooded murder,” Basheer alleged.

Thillankeri rejected the allegation, saying he attended a function in the district that was announced much earlier. The RSS had no role in the killing, he said.

While there was no immediate provocation for the SDPI leader’s murder, police suspect it might be in retaliation to the murder of V Nandu, a worker of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of RSS, in Vayalar in February this year, officers said, requesting anonymity.

Clashes between RSS and SDPI workers are frequent in Kerala. Last month, RSS leader S Sanjith was stabbed to death in Palakkad by a gang of assailants.

As news of Sreenivasan’s death spread, BJP’s state president K Surendran alleged that the Kerala government’s support to the SDPI led to the gruesome murder. He sought an investigation by a central agency, saying the party will not get justice from state police.

“The CPI(M) is running many local bodies with the help of SDPI,” Surendran said. “It supports the communal outfit to checkmate the RSS.”

“Pinarayi Vijayan’s goonda raj took another precious life,” V Muraleedharan of the BJP, who is junior foreign minister at the Centre, tweeted on Sunday. “No law and order and killers go scot-free.”

VD Satheesan of the Congress party, who is leader of the opposition in the state assembly, and state Congress president K Sudhakaran condemned the murders.

“If police were alert, the second murder could have been avoided,” Satheesan said. “Police should be given a free hand to investigate both.”