RSS worker murder: 8 SDPI activists held

Alappuzha (Ker): Eight workers of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) have been taken into custody in connection with the killing of a RSS worker in the district, police said on Thursday.

Nandu, 23, was allegedly hacked to death by the workers of the SDPI, a political offshoot of Popular Front of India (PFI), following a clash between two groups in Nagamkulangara near Cherthala, on Wednesday night.

According to the police, at least six people belonging to the SDPI and the RSS were injured in the clash between their workers. They have been admitted to various hospitals in Alappuzha and Ernakulam, police said.

One of the injured workers of the RSS is said to be serious, they said. BJP is observing a dawn-to-dusk hartal in the district to protest the violence against their workers.

According to reports, tension had been brewing in the area following a march organised by the SDPI recently in protest against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s Kerala visit to inaugurate BJP’s Vijay Yatra from Kasargod to Thiruvananthapuram. The area had witnessed back-to-back protest marches by two groups following the SDPI programme.