Sharath Lal and Kripesh were hacked to death by unidentified assailants in Kasargod, Kerala on February 17
Moneycontrol News
Families of two Indian Youth Congress (IYC) workers Sharath Lal and Kripesh, who were hacked to death on February 17, have alleged that the motive behind the murders was political vendetta.
According to a report in The News Minute, the families of the deceased believe that the murders were the result of a month-old scuffle between the IYC workers and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) -- the Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s youth wing.
Sharath Lal (22) and Kripesh (24) were hacked to death by unidentified assailants in the northern district of Kasargod, Kerala on February 17, according to police. They were returning from home after attending a local function in Kasaragod when they were attacked.
Sharath Lal’s relative Babu Raj has called the attack “planned”. Talking to the news portal, Babu Raj said that the attack on Sharath, who received at least 15 critical cuts on his body, was similar to the infamous Kannur political killing where the victim had suffered 51 cuts on his face.
A civil engineer, Sharath was part of the Congress since his college days and was a member of the Kerala Students Union (KSU) -- the party’s student wing.
Kripesh, too, had been involved with the party for a long time.
According to the report citing sources, the killings are connected to a month-old scuffle between the local CPI(M) and the KSU activists of Munnad People’s College.
It was followed by violence between DYFI and Youth Congress workers in Kalyott. During the scuffle, Peethambaran, a local committee member of DYFI, injured his hand and Sharath was accused in the case and was remanded.
Sharath and Kripesh had started receiving death threats on messengers for over a month before they were attacked and died, Babu Raj added.
A dawn-to-dusk flash hartal was called for by the Youth Congress in the district following the news of their death. The hartal saw spurs of attacks especially vandalism of public property and vehicles.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi reacted to the IYC workers’ murders, on social media. Gandhi termed the "brutal murder" of two Youth Congress workers in Kerala as "shocking" and said the party will not rest till the murderers are brought to justice.
Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala had said the CPI(M) was trying to destroy the party using its goons. He had also alleged that the murder was a conspiracy hatched by the CPI(M) as the Lok Sabha elections are round the corner.
However, CPI(M) Kasaragod District Secretary MV Balakrishnan Master condemned the murder and denied his party's role in the killings.
With these two murders, Kerala has witnessed around 20 political murders since the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) came to power in the state in 2016, according to a report in The Week. Among this, nine people were killed in 2016, five in 2017 and four in 2018.
