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Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh is learnt to have asked the Home Secretary of Kerala to file a report on yesterday’s murder of an RSS functionary in the State.
The violent incident that ended in the murder of one person and grievous injury to another, was reported on a day when two top Sangh Parivar leaders were visiting the State Capital.
TOP PARIVAR LEADERS
BJP President Amit Shah was meeting party men in Thiruvananthapuram, while the RSS Sarsangchalak Mohan Bhagwat had just about wound up a week-long tour.
Meanwhile, the dawn-to-dusk protest hartal called by the RSS-BJP has hit normal life in the State with even private vehicles not venturing out. The hartal is total since it came into effect at 6 am.
Early reports said buses, taxis and autorickshaws have largely kept off the roads, while most shops across the State remained closed.
The State Government has declared a holiday for educational institutions, including professional colleges. Universities have postponed examinations scheduled for the day.
POLITICAL VIOLENCE
Sangh Parivar outfits had requested yesterday that even private vehicles keep off the roads during the hartal.
Stray incidents of stone throwing have been reported from parts of the State, with the police advising drivers to avoid places with known political vulnerabilities.
The hacking to death of the RSS functionary took place at Kathiroor in Thalassery, which has a history of political violence involving BJP-RSS and the CPM.
Country-made bombs were hurled at the car in which the deceased and his companions were travelling.
The attackers took cover of the smoke to hack to death K Manoj Kumar, the district Saririk Sikshan Pramukh of RSS, and afflict grievous injuries on his colleague Pramod.
POACHING OF CADRES
The police is learnt to have arrested eight persons suspected to have been involved in the daylight murder even as a prime suspect is still at large.
A heavy police presence is discernible in violence-prone Kannur and Kozhikode districts following intelligence inputs suggesting that large-scale mobilisation of cadres may be triggered under the cover of the hartal.
Meanwhile, the RSS-BJP leaders have alleged that the CPM was behind the killing. Violence has erupted in the area reportedly after the BJP and CPM started poaching workers from either side in a bid expand their respective organisational bases.
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