Prohibitory orders have been declared in parts of Dakshina Kannada district after a BJP Yuva Morcha worker was killed late on Tuesday allegedly by two bike-borne assailants in Bellare.

This comes in the aftermath of a Muslim youth dying after being assaulted by Vishwa Hindu Parishad workers in nearby Kalanja in the same district on June 19.

While 10 locals have been detained in connection with the hacking of Yuva Morcha worker Praveen Nettaru, 31, in Bellare, a police team has headed to neighbouring Kerala in search of the assailants suspected to be from that state.

Eyewitnesses told the police that the motorbike had a Kerala licence plate although there is no information about the identity of the killers.

Nettaru, who ran a poultry shop, was attacked with machetes when he was closing for the day late on Tuesday. The attackers fled on a motorbike. He died later at a local hospital.

In Kalanja, Masud, an 18-year-old house painter who hailed from neighbouring Kerala, died on June 19, two days after being attacked. The police had arrested eight VHP workers and booked them under relevant penal sections, including IPC 302 for murder. The police are examining if Nettaru was attacked in retaliatory action for Masud’s murder.

The Bellare administration declared prohibitory orders under CrPC Section 144 in Sullia, Kadaba and Puttur taluks of Dakshina Kannada district on Wednesday and ordered all education institutions closed for the day.

Police sources said they were in touch with their counterparts in Kerala, especially in the bordering Kasaragod district of the neighbouring state, to trace the killers of Nettaru.

Since Bellare is just a few kilometres from Kasaragod, it is suspected that the assailants might have fled to Kerala.

The funeral procession witnessed an outpouring of anger against the BJP and the Karnataka government as people raised slogans against party leaders. Slogans were raised against state BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel and RSS leader Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat, accusing them of doing nothing to protect partymen.

Home minister Araga Jnanendra told reporters that steps were being taken to maintain law and order and arrest the suspects. “The director-general of police has briefed us on how the investigation is proceeding. On the one hand we are doing everything to ensure law and order is intact, on the other we are trying to nab the culprits. A police team has gone to Kerala and 10 persons have been detained (in Bellare) as part of the investigation,” he said.