The dawn-to-dusk hartal called by Sangh Parivar in Kerala's Alappuzha district on Thursday turned out to be total with most of the shops and business establishments remaining shut down and vehicles staying off the roads. The hartal call was to condemn the murder of 22-year-old Nandhu R Krishna, a district level RSS leader late Wednesday night. Two RSS activists who were injured seriously in the attack have been admitted to hospital.
Activists of SDPI, an Islamic extremist outfit, hacked to death in a gruesome manner Nandhu around 9 pm by Wednesday night. The murder of Nandhu is believed to be the continuation of the tension prevailing in the region between Sangh Parivar and SDPI following the visit of Yogi Adityanath, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh to Kasaragod last week.
Leaders of the SDPI, known as Sudapis, had reportedly delivered provocative speeches during a public meeting and this set off a chain reaction which culminated in the hacking of Nandu.
Various Islamic outfits in the State are on a warpath against the Sangh Parivar organisations which are on a fundraising mission for the proposed Sree Ram Temple at Ayodhya. The Islamic parties including Muslim League have campaigning all over the State exhorting people not to donate funds for the temple construction at Ayodhya.
Alappuzha district police are investigating the case. According to local RSS leaders the murderers were brought in from other districts and they vanished after finishing off the victim.