2 Youth Congress leaders hacked to death in Kerala, hartal in Kasaragod on Monday

Kasaragod, Feb 17: Two Youth Congress leaders died on Sunday after they were attacked by unidentified men near Periya in Kasaragod. The deceased have been identified as Kripesh and Sarath Lal.

"Two youths have been killed. We have just confirmed the identity of the deceased. Further investigation is on," police said.

Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala lashed out at the ruling CPI(M) and expressed his strong protest against the double murder. He will visit homes of the two deceased workers on Monday.

"The CPI(M) is trying to destroy the Congress party using the party goons. The youth congress activists were attacked without any provocation. They were not involved in any kind of criminal activities. No cases were there against them. The government should identify the culprits and arrest them as soon as possible," Chennithala told media persons.

He also alleged that the murder was a conspiracy hatched by the CPI(M) as the Lok Sabha elections are near.
However, CPI(M) district secretary M V Balakrishnan Master categorically denied any role of his party in the killings. "We strongly condemn this murder. We are against murderous politics. We don't have any role in this," he told media persons.

Reports said the workers were returning home after attending a local function on Sunday night and they were stopped by a gang of unidentified people who came in a car and hacked them to death. The identity of the attackers was yet to the confirmed, police said.

The UDF has called for a district-wide hartal in Kasaragod on Monday.