Five persons were arrested on Friday in connection with the murder of CPM local leader P B Sandeep Kumar, 36, at Thiruvalla in Pathanamthitta district in Kerala on Thursday.
The police maintained that the personal rivalry of the prime accused RSS worker Jishnu and Sandeep was the reason for the provocation for the murder.
This caused embarrassment to the ruling CPM as the party leaders were alleging that it was political murder by the BJP-RSS. CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan flayed the police for making such observations at the initial stage of the probe itself.
Meanwhile, BJP state president K Surendran said that the CPM leaders should apologise for terming it as political murder and putting the blame on BJP-RSS.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that all those involved in the heinous crime would be brought before the law.
Sandeep was stabbed to death by a gang of around five on Thursday night.