The Kerala Police have arrested two workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party in connection with the murder of a Communist Party of India (Marxist) worker in Kasargod district on Sunday night. Police are questioning Ashwith and Karthik.

According to the police, 25-year-old Aboobacker Siddique was attacked by men on a motorcycle at Prathapnagar in Manjeswaram taluk around 11 pm on Sunday. An unidentified officer told The New Indian Express that Siddique, who used to work abroad, had come home for vacation.

Kasargod District police chief A Srinivas confirmed the arrests to Scroll.in. “We are still investigating the motive behind the attack,” he said.

Police said the two men were allegedly drunk at the time of the incident, leading to a clash with Siddique, who reportedly questioned them for drinking, reported The Times of India. Deputy Superintendent of Police MV Sukumaran said since Siddique is a CPI(M) worker and the arrested are BJP workers, police are also investigating the political angle to the murder.

CPI(M) has alleged that workers of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Bharatiya Janata Party were behind the murder.

Meanwhile, BJP state president PS Sreedharan Pillai condemned the killing, and said violence was not a solution to any problem. “As far as I understand, it was a killing over liquor sale,” The New Indian Express quoted Pillai as saying. “The law should take its course and the guilty should be punished.”

He alleged that the CPI(M), which is heading the ruling coalition in Kerala, would try to make political gains from the murder because the victim was a “Muslim brother”.

The police have deployed a large contingent of personnel in the region after the killing, reported The Indian Express. The CPI(M) has called for a strike in the taluk on Monday afternoon.