A 28-year-old man, who the BJP claimed was a party worker, was hacked to death by a gang in Bengaluru following which two people were arrested in the case.

Bengaluru: A 28-year-old man, who the BJP claimed was a party worker, was hacked to death by a gang in Bengaluru following which two people were arrested in the case, police said on Thursday.

Santhosh was attacked by a four-member gang when he was returning home from a party Wednesday night, they said. They said he was murdered over previous enmity and added that two people were arrested in the case while a hunt was on for two others.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka unit of the BJP claimed that Santhosh was a party worker and the incident took place when he was putting up party flags and buntings in Chennappa Garden area in view of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the city on 4 February.

In a tweet late last night, the Karnataka BJP said, "Santhosh was found dead in a pool of blood after he was hacked near Channappa Garden, JC Nagar, Bengaluru."

Santhosh was found dead in a pool of blood after he was hacked near Channappa Garden, JC Nagar, Bengaluru. He had a full life ahead of him. Who will answer his mother's wails? Who will wipe his father's tears? When will this cycle of violence stop in Karnataka? pic.twitter.com/UbKsQOVGdg — BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) January 31, 2018

On 3 January, Deepak Rao (28), who was associated with the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, was killed, triggering tension in Dakshina Kannada district and leading to a retaliatory attack that claimed the life of Basheer (47).

A series of killings of Hindu activists in the state triggered a political slugfest between the ruling Congress and the BJP in recent months. The BJP had alleged that the Congress government allowed "jihadi forces" to have a field day and to indulge in "wanton killings" of Hindu workers in pursuance of "vote-bank politics" and minority appeasement.

The Congress had charged the BJP with polarising the sensitive situation in the region with an eye on the upcoming Assembly polls due in 2018.