Crime scene
Muslim BJP leader hacked to death in Karnataka’s Chikmanglur. (Representational image)Creative Commons/Yumi Kimura

The general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) unit in Karnataka's Chikmagalur was hacked to death on Friday (June 22) night.

The BJP leader, who has been identified as Mohammed Anwar was returning home from a cultural event in the area at around 9:30 pm when he was attacked.

A few bike-borne assailants stopped him near Gauri canal and stabbed him to death. He was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital but was declared brought dead.

According to the police, the 44-year-old BJP leader was stabbed thrice. It is being suspected that the attack was a result of personal rivalry, reported Amarujala. The cops are currently investigating the case and have registered a murder case against the unidentified assailants.

Meanwhile, Senior BJP leader Shobha Karandlaje claimed that the leader had received threats from local goons.

Other BJP leaders killed

However, this is not the first time that a BJP leader has been killed.

Earlier on May 30, an 18-year-old Dalit boy named Trilochan Mahato who was an active BJP youth worker was found hanging from a tree in Balarampur town of West Bengal's Purulia district. A few days later another saffron party member named Dulal Kumar was found hanging from a high-tension electric-supply tower in a village of the same state.

The BJP called the deaths "political murders". BJP president Amit Shah had tweeted:

"The present TMC govt in West Bengal has surpassed the violent legacy of Communist rule. Entire BJP mourns this tragic loss and stands firmly with Trilochan Mahato's family in this hour of grief. His sacrifice for organisation and ideology will not go in vain. Om Shanti Shanti Shanti," he added.