Kerala a 'hotbed' of ideological murders: BJP condemns killing of OBC Morcha leader

Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) OBC Morcha president Dr K Laxman said on Sunday that Kerala has recently become a "hub of ideological killings of RSS and BJP members" while condemning the alleged murder of the party's OBC Morcha state secretary Renjith Sreenivasan in Alappuzha today (December 19) morning.

"We are deeply concerned about how the authorities concerned are conducting the probe and, more broadly, the safety of our leaders. Kerala has been a hotbed of ideological killings of RSS and BJP supporters in recent years," Laxman stated, adding, "We demand an immediate investigation and strong action against the culprits by Kerala Government."

An advocate by profession, Renjith was the BJP candidate from the Alappuzha constituency in the 2016 Kerala Assembly elections, the state secretary of the OBC Morcha, and a member of the BJP's Kerala state committee. Unidentified people allegedly murdered Sreenivasan at his home early on Sunday morning in Kerala's Alappuzha district.

BJP's Sambit Patra slams Kerala government

Expressing grief over the alleged murder of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Renjith Sreenivasan in Alappuzha on Sunday morning, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said that the "smiling man is no longer smiling." Patra attacked the left-wing government in Kerala in a tweet, saying the state has lost its humanity. "In Kerala, he was hacked to death by goons," Patra exclaimed in a social media post.

BJP's OBC Morcha's state secretary Sreenivasan's alleged assassination comes after KS Shan, the Social Democratic Party of India's state secretary, was allegedly killed in the district. The BJP has accused the Popular Front of India (PFI) of orchestrating Ranjeet Sreenivasan's assassination.

Initially, Section 144 was enforced in the Alappuzha district, District Collector A Alexander informed. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also expressed his sorrow over the tragic incident.

Sreenivasan killed in broad daylight by 'PFI terrorists': BJP

In addition to condemning the murder of a BJP leader, state party president K Surendran claimed that Ranjeet was hacked to death in broad daylight by "PFI terrorists." Surendran alleged the PFI assassinated three BJP-RSS leaders in the last two months and accused the state administration of failing to prosecute the killers.

Previously, an RSS worker named Sanjith was killed while riding his motorcycle with his wife in Palakkad. Sanjith, a resident of Kerala's Elappully region, was stabbed more than 50 times, according to police. Following the murder, the region was engulfed in unrest, and an inquiry was initiated to apprehend the suspects, who had fled the scene.

(With inputs from ANI, Image: PTI/ANI)