The Youth Congress has called for a Kerala-wide dawn-to-dusk hartal on Monday to protest against the murder of two of its workers in Kasargod district.

The duo were hacked to death at Periya in Kasaragod on Sunday evening allegedly by CPM workers, a charge denied by the ruling party.

The deceased were identified as 24-year-old Kripesh and 29-year-old Sarathlal alias Joshi, who were attacked by a three-member gang. Police said the incident occurred around 8 pm while the duo were on a two-wheeler. While Kripesh died on the spot, Sarathlal succumbed to injuries on the way to a hospital in Mangalore.

Exams, including that of higher secondary, model exam of SSLC, Kerala University, MG University, Kannur University and Calicut University have been postponed due to the hartal.

In a statement, Kerala police chief Loknath Behra asked district police superintendents to take all measures to ensure law and order.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has cancelled all his official programmes for the day, said an official release.

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi condemning the murder of the two Youth Congress tweeted on Monday, "The brutal murder of two members of our Youth Congress family in Kasargod, Kerala is shocking. The Congress Party stands in solidarity with the families of these two young men and I send them my deepest condolences. We will not rest till the murderers are brought to justice."

The double murder triggered a fresh war of words with Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala lashing out at the CPI(M).

"The CPI(M) is trying to destroy the Congress party using the party goons. The Youth Congress activists were attacked without any provocation. They were not involved in any kind of criminal activities. No cases were there against them. The government should identify the culprits and arrest them as soon as possible," Chennithala told reporters

He also alleged that the murder was a conspiracy hatched by the CPM as the Lok Sabha elections are near.

However, CPM district secretary MV Balakrishnan Master categorically denied any role of his party in the killings. "We strongly condemn this murder. We are against murderous politics. We don't have any role in this," he said.