Kerala Twin Murder Case: High Court Provides Relief to Ex-MLA and Three Others
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Kochi, Jan 8 (NationPress) Just five days following a CBI court's decision that sentenced 10 CPI(M) affiliates to a double-life sentence and imposed a five-year imprisonment on four others, including a former party legislator, the Kerala High Court intervened on Wednesday to suspend the verdict regarding the latter group.
As the CBI court found former party legislator K.V. Kunhiraman and three others guilty of forcibly taking the second accused from police custody, the CPI(M) leadership strongly criticized the Centre, accusing it of utilizing the CBI to undermine political adversaries of the BJP.
The CPI(M) has consistently claimed that during the investigations conducted by the Kerala Police and the Crime Branch, neither Kunhiraman nor the other three were implicated. It was only after the CBI assumed control of the case that their names surfaced.
Kunhiraman and the three others received a five-year prison sentence, but following the High Court's suspension, they are expected to be released from Kannur jail, where they have been held since Saturday.
This case involves the heinous murders of Youth Congress activists -- Kripesh (19) and P.K. Sarath Lal (24) -- on February 17, 2019, in Periya, located in Kasaragod district.
In the previous week, the CBI court convicted 14 individuals while exonerating 10 others related to this case.
In response to the latest ruling, Sarath Lal's father expressed intentions to pursue legal actions regarding this decision as well as the earlier one where 10 individuals were acquitted.
The victims were the target of a politically driven assault carried out by CPI(M) members. According to court findings, eight of the accused were directly implicated in the twin murders, whereas six played supporting roles.
The court sentenced the eight who were actively involved in this brutal act to a double-life term, with two others linked to the conspiracy receiving the same sentence. Initially handled by the Crime Branch, the case was transferred to the CBI after a petition was lodged by the victims' families in the High Court. The CBI determined that these murders were the result of a series of politically charged assaults between CPI(M) and Congress supporters in the area.
