KOCHI/THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A CBI court in Kochi on Saturday convicted 14 people, including former CPM MLA KV Kunhiraman, for the 2019 double murder of Youth Congress members Kripesh, 19, and Sarath Lal KP, 23, in Periya town, Kasaragod district of Kerala.
Ten of the total 24 accused were acquitted. The court will pronounce the sentences on January 3. The court allowed bail for Kunhiraman and three others till sentencing.
Prominent CPM officials among those convicted include Kunhiraman, Kanhangad block panchayat president K Manikandan, former Periya local committee member A Peethambaran and former Pakkam secretary Raghavan Velutholy. Other convicts include Saji C George, Suresh KM, Anil Kumar K alias Abu, Gijin, Srirag R alias Kuttu, Aswin A alias Appu, Subeesh alias Mani, Ranjith T alias Appu, A Surendran alias Vishnu Sura and KV Bhaskaran.
Kripesh and Sarath Lal were hacked to death on February 17, 2019, in a retaliation attack allegedly planned by first accused Peethambaran and others following a political clash. The Youth Congress members were waylaid and attacked by a group of eight while they were returning home along the Kalliot-Thannithode road.
The families of the victims, along with the opposition Congress and the BJP, have called for an appeal against the acquittal of 10 accused. Sarath Lal’s father Sathyanarayanan expressed mixed emotions. “The verdict is a relief, but we cannot be happy because our children were murdered by CPM functionaries and party workers,” he said, adding that the family will request the CBI to appeal against the acquittal of 10 accused.
Kripesh’s father Krishnan PV criticized the CPM’s “policy of violence” and termed the sentence a moral defeat for the party. The court found Kunhiraman, Manikandan, Raghavan and Bhaskaran guilty under section 225 of the IPC, while eight others directly involved in the murders were convicted under sections 302, 201, 148, 341 and 120(b) of the IPC.
Congress’ VD Satheesan criticized the CPM for protecting the accused. “The government should prosecute the criminals, but it spent Rs 1 crore of public tax money to prevent the CBI from intervening. The CPM was responsible for masterminding the murder,” he said, demanding an apology from CM Pinarayi Vijayan.
“The murder was a result of a criminal conspiracy by the CPM. Instead of celebrating justice, the party’s appeal shows it is openly protecting criminals,” Satheesan alleged. Kerala BJP president K Surendran credited the CBI for uncovering the involvement of CPM politicians. “These cases investigated by state agencies often allow CPM officials to escape,” he said.