Chennai:
There is no progress in investigations into who brutally murdered V Ramesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP's state general secretary in Tamil Nadu.
Mr Ramesh, whose body was found hacked at his hometown Salem on Friday was a former state RSS Secretary who had contested unsuccessfully for the post of Mayor of Salem a few years ago.
At Salem, BJP leader Venkiah Naidu said, "The government of Tamil Nadu should take immediate steps, set up a special investigating team with people consisting of proven integrity and competence and see to it that the real culprits behind this gruesome murder are caught and punished at the earliest. There seems to be a pattern in the recent years, one after the other leaders belonging to Hindu organisations are killed."
The Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP has called for a state bandh on Monday in protest of the murder (
Read). Last night, buses were targeted by protesters in Salem.
Leading a protest in Chennai, BJP's State General Secretary Tamilisai Soundararajan said, "It's a political murder and if this continues, none can walk on the streets. We want justice." (
Sushma Swaraj demands probe)
Last year, another BJP functionary, Dr Aravindan from the medical wing of the party was murdered in the Vellore district. There has been no breakthrough in investigations.
In 2011, pipe bombs targeted BJP leader LK Advani under a bridge on his route near Madurai. In 1998, the senior BJP leader was targeted in the Coimbatore serial bomb blast that killed 52 people. Eighteen members of the al-Uma group were ultimately convicted.
The BJP is yet to yet to establish a firm foothold in the state. With its leaders targeted, the party wants the state government to go to the root of it.
These murders and incidents are also seen as a huge embarrassment for the ruling AIADMK, seen as a friend of the BJP.