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In a fresh flare-up of political clashes in the district, two BJP workers and a CPI(M) activist were stabbed to death and one person was critically injured in separate incidents in Thalassery, triggering panic and tension in the politically sensitive belts of the town on Wednesday, police said.
Violence broke out after the stabbing of a BJP worker Sumesh (40) by suspected CPI(M) workers at Narangapuram in the town around 3 pm. The incident triggered a series of clashes between the rival parties with CPI(M) activist Rajinth being critically injured in an attack by the BJP-RSS workers within 15 minutes, they said. The 39-year-old auto-rickshaw driver died in hospital.
As the violence spread, two RSS-BJP workers — Nikhil and Satyan alias Santosh — were stabbed to death allegedly by CPI(M), the police added.
Nikhil (22), a truck driver, was attacked after his vehicle was waylaid by a group of persons at Kooli Bazar near Thalassery. Nikhil ran out of the vehicle to safety but was done to death, while Santhosh was stabbed to death at Eruvatty near the town this evening, police here said.
Soon three others were injured in different attacks in and around Thalassery. Following the spate of violent incidents, the police on Wednesday evening clamped prohibitory orders under CrPC section 144 in Dharmadom, Kathirur and Thalassery police station limits and intensified patrolling in the troubled areas.
A team of senior police officials led by IGP (North Zone) V Shantaram is in the town to prevent further escalation in violence.
Meanwhile, the condition of BJP worker Sumesh, who had been admitted to the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital, remained very critical, medical college police said.
