Mysuru, May 17 : Karnataka BJP leaders have expressed concerns over the recent cases of crime against women in the state.

Speaking to reporters in Mysuru on Thursday, Karnataka's Leader of the Opposition (LoP) R. Ashoka said that a series of murders of women are being reported in the state.

"We don't know whether the Police Department is dead or alive. Another young woman named Anjali had been hacked to death in Hubballi on Wednesday...," he added.

20-year-old Anjali Ambiger was stabbed to death by a youth when she was asleep at her house at Veerapur Oni area in Hubballi on Wednesday early morning.

Former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who was in Gadag city on Thursday, also hit out at the police. "Although Anjali's family had lodged a death threat complaint, the police did not arrest the accused... indirectly resulting in Anjali's murder," said Bommai, adding that police are being used to "suppress political opponents in the state".

"There was a complete failure of the police in this case. The accused in the Anjali murder case had threatened that he would kill her just like Neha Hiremath... Anjali's family has also complained about this. This murder could have been averted if the police had arrested the accused," he said.

Bommai said law and order have completely deteriorated in the state. "Hooligans are roaming freely and fearlessly in the state. There is no safety for the lives of common people and girls in the state. There is an atmosphere of fear and hooliganism in the state," he added.

/IANS