While Kannur observed a dawn-to-dusk hartal on Saturday to protest the murder of a 24-year-old RSS worker, Shyama Prasad, the Peravur police have nabbed four SDPI workers in connection with the incident.

The arrested have been identified as Muhammed (20), Saleem (26), Sameer (25) and Shasim (39). All four are Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) workers, according to the police.

“The incident happened around 5 in the evening near a goat farm in Kommeri in Kannur,” said an official.

“We have registered a case under IPC section 341 (Punishment for wrongful restraint) and 302 (Punishment for murder) r/w IPC 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention),” confirmed a police official.

Meanwhile, police officials also suspect that the murder was an act of revenge, as an SDPI worker was killed in a clash last week.

Media reports say that after he was attacked while riding his motorcycle, Shyama abandoned his vehicle and tried to escape by running to a nearby house, but the gang followed him and hacked him to death.

Police are probing the case, with the investigation being led by Peravoor Circle Inspector Kuttikrishnan.

Shyama was hacked to death at Chittaruparamb on Friday while he was on his way back home from Kakkayangad. Though he was rushed to a hospital in Thalassery, he was declared brought dead to the hospital.

Shyama was a student at the Industrial Training Institute in Kakkayangad and was the mukhya sikshak of a local RSS sakha.

Earlier, the BJP announced that Kannur will observe a dawn-to-dusk hartal on Saturday following the RSS worker’s murder. Party members decided to exempt vehicles from the hartal.