BJP worker hacked to death in Kerala's Kannur

KANNUR: Amidst the festive mood in Kannur , where the 57th State School Arts Festival is going on, a BJP worker was hacked to death at Andallur near Dharmadom in the district around Wednesday midnight.According to police, the BJP worker has been identified as Ezhuthan Santhosh (52), and he was hacked by a gang that broke into his house around 11.30. Though Santhosh called his friend and informed him about the attack, following which he was rushed to the hospital with the help of the police, his life could not be saved and died of excessive bleeding. His wife and children were not at home at the time of murder.Santhosh was the former Mukhya Shikshak of the RSS unit in Andallur and he was also the booth president of the BJP there.Alleging that the CPM is behind the murder of Santhosh, the BJP has called for dawn-to-dusk harthal in the district on Thursday. They said the School Arts Festival has been exempted from the harthal.However, the CPM said that the party has no role in the murder and condemned it.CPM Pinarayi area secretary K Manoharan said in a statement that the killers should be brought before the law, and if at all any CPM worker is found to be involved in this brutal murder, the party would not support them.Meanwhile, police have strengthened the vigil to prevent any law and order issue.