Keralites woke up to the news of two horror deaths on Sunday. Two state-level leaders of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were killed in less than 12 hours in Kerala's Alappuzha district. Police said that it was an apparent retaliatory attack and over 50 people are taken into custody in connection with the murders.

SDPI state secretary KS Shaan was hacked by a group of four members on Saturday night. KS Shaan was murdered while he was on his way home. The police said Mr. Shaan was on a two-wheeler, when a gang in a car intercepted him, hit his bike, and stabbed him. He was soon rushed to private hospitals in Alappuzha and then shifted to Kochi. He was declared dead by 12.45 am.

Within 12 hours of the shocking incident, Renjith Sreenivasan, BJP state committee member, and OBC Morcha state secretary from Alappuzha was killed at his home by miscreants within 12 hours of the murder of Shan. The BJP and the SDPI have accused each other of being responsible for the murders. To avoid further clashes, the District Collector had declared Section 144 in the district on Sunday and Monday.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan condemned the twin political murders in Alappuzha. "Such heinous and inhumane acts of violence are dangerous to the state. I am sure that all the people would be ready to identify and isolate such killer groups and their hateful attitudes," Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in a press conference. Earlier, on November 15, an RSS worker, S Sanjith was hacked to death allegedly by the workers of the SDPI.

.@VijayanPinarayi' Goondaraj takes yet another precious life.@BJP4OBCMorcha State Secretary Adv. Renjith Sreenivasan hacked to death by SDPI goons@CPIMKerala rule turning the state into a killing field.

No Law & Order
No security for citizens
Killers go scot-free. Shame! pic.twitter.com/VOfxJKrkeO

— V Muraleedharan / വി മുരളീധരൻ (@VMBJP) December 19, 2021