Two Youth Congress workers hacked to death in Kerala's Kasaragod; Party calls for hartal today

Kasaragod, Feb 18: Two Youth Congress workers were hacked to death Kerala's Kasaragod district on Sunday. The Youth Congress Party has alleged CPM behind the deaths and calls for a hartal in the state. According to police sources, the 2 deceased were involved in earlier clashes.

The incident happened when a group of people who came in an SUV stopped them on the road and hacked them to death, the police said. The two Congress workers were returning home after attending an event nearby, news agency PTI reported.

The deceased have been identified as 24-year-old Kripesh and 29-year-old Sarathlal alias Joshi, who were attacked by a gang that arrived in a car, while the two were on a two-wheeler. Police said that the incident occurred around 8 pm.

While Kripesh died on the spot, Sarathlal passed away on the way to a hospital in Mangalore.

Calling the murder "brutal", Congress chief Rahul Gandhi tweeted his condolences for the families of the victims.

The brutal murder of two members of our Youth Congress family in Kasargod, Kerala is shocking. The Congress Party stands in solidarity with the families of these two young men & I send them my deepest condolences. We will not rest till the murderers are brought to justice.

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 18, 2019

Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) opposition has called for a strike or hartal in Kasargod today in protest against the killing. The Youth Congress has called for a dawn-to-dusk strike across Kerala.