Communal tension in Coimbatore after young Hindu Munnani leader hacked to death.

Bandh called after Hindu Munnani functionary hacked to death in Coimbatore by suspected Jihadis.

Priya Unnikrishnan | HENB | Coimbatore | Sept 23, 2016:: A 36-year-old Hindu Munnani functionary was hacked to death by a four-member gang here, leading to tension in the district and neighboring Tirupur with the outfit calling for a bandh on Friday.

C Sasikumar, district spokesperson of the organization, was returning home in Subramaniampalayam, in the outskirts, on a two-wheeler when the suspected Jihadi assailants chased him on motorcycles and attacked him with sickles late last night.

He was immediately taken to a private hospital, where he died, police said.

Hindu Munnani has called for a state-wide bandh today to protest against the killing of Sasikumar.

Tension prevailed in Coimbatore and Tirupur districts as the news about the murder spread.

Shops and commercial establishments were closed in both the cities, and buses remained off the road since morning.

A group of men pelted stones at the buses parked on the road side and broke window screens. A driver of a private bus sustained injuries on his hand in the stone pelting, police said.

Petrol Bomb was thrown at Qurrathul Ayne Hanafi Sunnath Jamath at RS Puram, Coimbatore following the murder of Hindu Munnani functionary by some unidentified people on Thursday night. | (A Raja Chidambaram/EPS)

Following the incident, some agitated persons hurled petrol bombs on a mosque in Sukrawarpet. Other than that, all the shops in Coimbatore and Tirupur districts were forced to close and few protesters even pelted stones on TNSTC buses bringing their service to a halt in many parts of the city.

More than 500 members of the Hindu Munnani outfit had assembled in front of Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) where Sasikumar’s body was taken for postmortem. A large number of police were deployed on the premises of the Government Hospital there.  City Police Commissioner A Amal Raj and Deputy Commissioner N Lakshmi arrived at CMCH for take stock of the situation.

Six special police teams have been formed to nab the culprits, police said.

Some schools in both  Coimbatore and Tirupur districts declared holiday today in view of the tense situation.

Public life was disrupted in Coimbatore and Tirupur due to the Bandh of Friday called by Hindu Munnani and supported by BJP and other Hindu outfits.

Reacting to Sasikumar’s death, the Hindu Munnani’s state president Kadeswara G Subramani had condemned the growing Jihadi attacks over the Hindu people in the state of Tamil Nadu.

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__Agencies.