A 54-year-old CPI(M) worker was hacked to death in the wee hours of Monday at Thalassery in Kannur, Left Democratic Front convenor A Vijayaraghavan said here.
Haridasan, the victim, was a fisherman by profession.
Kannur, for long, has been the hotbed for political crimes, especially with the BJP/RSS and the CPI(M) taking on each other frequently. According to the CPI(M), in the past two years, Haridasan has become the tenth victim in Kannur.
It is the bastion of the CPI(M) and also the home district of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and party state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.
Vijayaraghavan termed the murder a calculated move by the RSS/BJP workers to destroy peace in the state.
"Kannur is going to be the venue of our upcoming party conference and the murder is a calculated move by the Sangh parivar forces. This has come as a shocker and rocked the peaceful atmosphere," Vijayaraghavan told the media at the state party headquarters here.
Haridasan was returning home around 2 a.m. when he attacked by four bike-borne in front of his house.
They first severed his left leg below the knee. His brother, who tried to intervene, was also injured.
BJP in cross-hairs
Kannur CPI-M district secretary M.V.Jayarajan said Haridasan was killed with the knowledge of the top level BJP leaders of the district by the RSS workers.
"In an audio clip of a BJP councillor doing rounds in social media, he can be heard saying that CPI-M workers will be taken to tasks," said Jayarajan.
Meanwhile, an uneasy calm continues to prevail in the area following tension between the CPI(M) and the BJP/RSS workers over a temple festival last week.
However, Kannur district BJP president Haridas dismissed the allegations and termed it "baseless".
"The CPI(M) should does not name the culprits as that is police's job. There were issues in the area over the conduct of a temple festival. The BJP is a party which does everything to ensure peace prevails," said Haridas.
The CPI(M) has called for a total shutdown in the area.
(With inputs from IANS)
