Kerala: Murder Most Foul

Assailants came in six bikes and barged into the house of BJP leader Advocate Renjith Sreenivasan at Kerala’s Alappuzha district on December 19 early morning. They first hit Renjith’s head with a hammer. Then they started hacking Renjith with machetes. Seeing this, Smt Vinodini, the mother of Renjith, tried to prevent them. One of the assailants put a knife at her throat and manhandled her. Renjith teenaged daughter who tried to intervene was also hit badly. 

The assailants belonged to radical Islamist outfits Popular Front of India-SDPI. Although the police had claimed to have arrested eleven people, key suspects are believed to have left the country. Popular Front of India is said to have raised hit squads in all districts and has been targeting RSS-BJP activists. 

Renjith Sreenivasan, State BJP OBC Morcha secretary,is survived by wife and two daughters. He was a member of the Alappuzha Bar Association. He had also contested State Assembly Elections on a BJP ticket. The audacious attack shows the state of law and order  in Kerala. 

Reacting to the killings in the Kerala district, BJP National General Secretary CT Ravi on Sunday accused the CPI(M)-led Kerala Government of “turning ‘God’s Own Country' into Jihadis Paradise”.

BJP National Secretary Shri Sunil Deodhar strongly condemned the incident. He said, “I strongly condemn brutal murder of OBC Morcha State Secretary Adv. Renjith Sreenivasan by PFI terrorists. He was hacked to death in broad daylight. Renjith contested the Assembly elections on a BJP ticket in 2016. PFI has murdered three BJP-RSS leaders in the last two months.”

Union Minister V Muraleedharan termed the murder  the “handy work of Islamic terrorist group”. “I’ve been told that State Secy of BJP OBC Morcha was stabbed to death, this morning. This is the handy work of Islamic terrorist group. This is the info coming from Alleppey (Alappuzha). I demand the State government to take strict action against perpetrators,” he Tweeted. He also added,” This is not the first incident, a few weeks ago, a BJP worker was killed. The State had not taken the required action to prevent such incidents. They have been taking a soft stand with Islamic terrorists which has encouraged them to indulge in more violence.”

An SDPI leader was stabbed to death by an unidentified gang on Saturday night. The local SDPI committee (Alappuzha Mandalam) had alleged that CPM was behind the murder. Following the incident, prohibitory orders (Section 144) were clamped in the district for two days. Earlier this year, an RSS Swayamsevak, Nandu Krishna in Vayalar, Alappuzha was also murdered by PFI-SDPI terrorists. 

Last month, an RSS leader was stabbed to death in Palakkad in a similar manner. The brutal murder of RSS Teneri Mandal Baudhik Pramukh Sanjith on November 15, at 9 am in Mambram Palakkad, was also part of a well-orchestrated plot.

In October, a BJP worker named Biju of Koppara house, Manathala, Chavakkad of Thrissur. While visiting Kerala in November, RSS Sah-Sarkaryavah Dr Manmohan Vaidya had urged both the State and Central Governments to further investigate the terrorist  connections and anti-national activities of PFI and ban this terrorist outfit.