The body of the vice president of Bharatiya Janata Party’s Tirupur North District unit was found hanging from a ceiling of a cow shed on Friday, reported PTI. The police suspect he was murdered, after they found S Marimuthu’s hands were tied behind his back.

The police said Marimuthu’s body had injuries that indicated he was assaulted before he was strangled and hanged. The 52-year-old politician had gone to the cow shed near to his house in Muthanpalayam. His body was found by family members when they had gone to look for him.

Like in Kerala, several BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh workers have been killed over the past few years. There was tension in the area and shops were closed as party workers protested after Marimuthu’s death.

BJP National General Secretary Muralidhar Rao condemned his murder and asked for immediate action from the state government. On Twitter, he said the BJP has become a “target for Islamic terror groups in Tamil Nadu”. He also condemned the recent attacks on party cadres in Kerala.