The Youth Congress has called for a dawn-to-dusk hartal in Kerala on Monday after two of its workers were hacked to death by unidentified assailants in Kasaragod late on Sunday night. The incident took place around 8pm and the deceased were identified as Kripesh and Sarath Lal of Periya.
"Two youths have been killed. We have just confirmed the identity of the deceased. Further investigation is on," the police said.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter on Monday to condemn the brutal killings. "The brutal murder of two members of our Youth Congress family in Kasargod, Kerala is shocking. The Congress Party stands in solidarity with the families of these two young men & I send them my deepest condolences. We will not rest till the murderers are brought to justice," Rahul tweeted.
Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala lashed out at the ruling CPI(M) and expressed his strong protest against the double murder. He will visit homes of the two deceased workers on Monday.
"The CPI(M) is trying to destroy the Congress party using the party goons. The Youth Congress activists were attacked without any provocation. They were not involved in any kind of criminal activities. No cases were there against them. The government should identify the culprits and arrest them as soon as possible," Chennithala told media persons.
He also alleged that the murder was a conspiracy hatched by the CPI(M) as the Lok Sabha elections were nearing.
However, CPI(M) district secretary M.V. Balakrishnan Master categorically denied any role of his party in the killings. "We strongly condemn this murder. We are against murderous politics. We don't have any role in this," he told mediapersons.
KPCC chief Mullappally Ramachandran has cancelled the functions related to his Janamahayathra and would head to Kasaragod on Monday.
Sources said the workers were returning home after attending a local function on Sunday night and they were stopped by a gang of unidentied people who came in a car and hacked them to death.
The identity of the attackers was yet to be confirmed, the police said.
Educational bandh
The Kerala Students Union, the students' wing of the Congress, has called for an educational bandh in the state on Monday. The SSLC model exam scheduled to be held Monday has been postponed. The revised dates would be announced later.
Kerala Police chief Loknath Behera has instructed all district police chiefs to ensure that law and order was maintained, and to take action against agitators if they tried to block roads or attack people.
Youth Congress state president Dean Kuriakose, however, said the hartal would be peaceful. He assured that he would ask the workers to show restrain.