Payyannur (Kerala), July 12 (IANS): After a lull, two political murders -- that of a CPI-M activist and a BJP worker -- within a span of few hours again shook north Kerala's politically sensitive Kannur district.

Five suspected Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh activists hacked to death Communist Party of India-Marxist activist Dhanaraj, 38, at his home near here around 10.30 pm. on Monday.

A seriously injured Dhanaraj died while being shifted to hospital.

In an apparent reprisal, a few armed men hacked to death a Bharatiya Janata Party-Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh leader Ramachandran, 49, at his home around 1 a.m. on Tuesday.

A shutdown was being observed in Payyannur on Tuesday in protest against the killings.

Kannur District Superintendent of Police Sanjay Kumar Gurudin said the perpetrators would be brought to justice.

In a statement issued in state capital Thiruvanthapuram, state Congress President V.M. Sudheeran asked both the CPI-M and the BJP to end this politics of murder.

"The leadership of these parties have to immediately intervene to ensure the politics of murder is brought to an end. Police has also to ensure that none escapes from these cases using political influence," said Sudheeran.

Kannur district, a CPI-M citadel, has always been under the spotlight for violent political tit-for-tat killings by RSS/BJP activists and CPI-M supporters.