A worker of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was hacked to death in Mambaram in Palakkad district on Monday morning, police said. Police said 27-year old Sanjith, who worked in a private firm, was hacked to death in front of his wife at around 9 am when he was taking her to her place of work on his bike. His wife escaped without any injuries.
The role of the activists of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the political offshoot of Islamist outfit Popular Front of India (PFI), is suspected in the incident, they said. An investigation has been launched to trace the accused who fled the scene after the incident, they said.
The BJP alleged that the assailants followed Sanjith, hailing from Elappully, in a vehicle, hit his two-wheeler and when he fell down they hacked him to death in front of his wife. Condemning the killing of the RSS worker, BJP state president K Surendran alleged it was a "planned murder" and blamed the failure on the part of the police and state government in such incidents recurring in the state.
Speaking to media, Palakkad BJP district president K M Haridas termed it a "well-planned" political murder by the SDPI. "Sanjith was going with his wife when he was stopped and brutally attacked. The SDPI in the state has got the ruling party's backing," he alleged.
While the BJP has alleged SDPI’s hand behind the murder, a policeman of Palakkad south station told TNM that a political link in the crime was being investigated. "There were five men in the gang and they came in a white car. They hacked Sanjith while he was on his way to drop off his wife. All the five are absconding," he said. The Palakkad Superintendent of Police Debesh Behera said that prima facie it looked like a political murder.
A police team has reached the crime spot and started an investigation. Even though Sanjith was immediately rushed to the nearby hospital, he succumbed to his injuries. The area has been cordoned off and the security beefed up.
Meanwhile, this is not the first time that an attempt was made to kill Sanjith. Sabeer Ali and Anwar Sadiq of the SDPI were arrested earlier for a murder attempt on Sanjith, while they were trying to flee to Tamil Nadu after the crime. According to Palakkad Town Police where a case was registered, the murder attempt happened on June 27, 2020.
With agency inputs