The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) observed a dawn-to-dusk hartal in the Alappuzha Assembly constituency after a party leader was found murdered at Kalavoor, near here, on Thursday.
Venugopal, 46, hailing from Puthuvelveli in Kalavoor, was hacked to death by unidentified persons around 6 a.m. He was the Alappuzha constituency secretary of the BJP.
The body was found near his house by his nephew, who called in the police. The body was shifted to the mortuary of Government T.D. Medical College. The body will be cremated on Friday after post-mortem examination.
The deceased was the prime accused in the murder of Chandralal alias Emmachan, a DYFI activist.