Four special teams of the Salem City Police have been formed to nab those involved in the killing of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State general secretary ‘Auditor’ V. Ramesh here late Friday night.
Mr. Ramesh was hacked to death by a group of persons near his office.
Meanwhile, the BJP has called for a high-level probe into the murder and a State-wide bandh on July 22. Senior BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu told presspersons that attacks on members of his party and Hindu organisations had increased since former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani took out a ‘rath yatra’ in 2011.
State BJP president Pon Radhakrishnan, vice-president H. Raja, party leader L. Ganesan and Hindu Makkal Katchi leader Arjun Sampath paid floral tributes.
Mr. Radhakrishnan told presspersons, “The government failed to provide adequate security to the party leaders.”
Salem remained tense on Saturday. Ten buses were damaged in stone-throwing, police said.
Most shops remained closed in Salem. BJP cadres staged demonstrations in Erode, Udhagamandalam and Tirupur.
The funeral in the evening went off peacefully. Doctors said Mr. Ramesh had received 24 cut injuries and the one in his neck was 25 cm deep.
The body of the slain BJP leader was taken out in a procession to the RSS office at Maravaneri for the public to pay homage.