Image: Twitter/amitmalviya
Eight persons were arrested after a 23-year-old man, identified as Nandhu, was hacked to death, allegedly by Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) workers. The SDPI workers had allegedly clashed with a group of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) workers in the Alappuzha district of Kerala on Wednesday night. According to news reports, Nandhu has been identified as an RSS worker. Police said the clash occured after provocation from both sides, reported the Muslim Mirror, adding that a total of eight SDPI workers have been arrested in the case so far.
Nandhu, was killed allegedly by Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) workers after they clashed with RSS men near Vayalar town in Alappuzha. The SDPI is the political wing of the Popular Front of India (PFI). According to the police, Nandhu was attacked with sharp objects was taken to a hospital but he succumbed to his grievous injuries on the way, reported the Muslim Mirror. Nandhu was cremated on Thursday.
Times Now reported that senior BJP leader and Union Minister V Muraleedharan said that the Left, as well as Congress, were encouraging “terror outfits like Popular Front of India” to nurture their vote bank. BJP state president K Surendran alleged that the Popular Front of India (PFI) is a ‘terror organisation’ and urged the Pinarayi Vijayan government to impose a ban on the outfit. It may be noted that SDPI is a political offshoot of the PFI.
At least six others, belonging to both the SDPI and the RSS, who were also said to be injured in the clash have been admitted to various hospitals in Alappuzha and Ernakulam. One of the injured workers of the RSS is said to be serious, stated the news report.
According to a report in Times Now, hundreds of BJP-RSS workers gathered outside the Government Medical College Hospital, where a postmortem of the body was carried out. Nandhu’s body was carried to the crematorium and the procession was taken out. Section 144 has been imposed in two districts of Kerala after violence was reported in parts of the district on Thursday. Meanwhile, the situation remains tense in the Alappuzha district of the state, where 17 people are still believed to be absconding, reported Times Now.
Meanwhile, the BJP had announced a shutdown in the Alappuzha district on Thursday, to protest the violence against their workers. According to news reports, tension had been brewing in the area following a recent march by the SDPI in protest against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath’s visit to inaugurate BJP’s Vijay Yatra from Kasargod to Thiruvananthapuram, stated news reports. It was then that the area had back-to-back protest marches by the two groups.
According to news reports, SDPI issued a statement on Thursday, claiming that “The attack by RSS against the march by SDPI was planned. There should be an inquiry into the death of RSS worker” it added that four SDPI workers have been hospitalised with serious injuries.
According to the SDPI it was “holding rallies in each constituency ahead of elections when the rally reached Vayalar,” it claimed that the “RSS workers tried to disrupt the rally but SDPI continued and the RSS workers, who came with weapons, attacked our workers.”
The BJP also alleged that the killing of an RSS worker was planned, and that two of its workers are in critical condition.
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