Kerala High Court upheld the conviction of 12 persons in the murder of dissident CPM leader T P Chandrasekharan.
Credit: iStockPhoto
Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala High Court on Monday upheld the conviction of 12 persons, including CPM local leaders, in the murder of dissident CPM leader T P Chandrasekharan in 2012.
Two CPM local leaders acquitted by the trial court were also found guilty by the court.
The convicts in the case include CPM local leaders and activists of Kozhikode and Kannur districts.
The CPM could heave a sigh of relief as the appeal against the acquittal of party senior leader P Mohanan was not allowed by the court.
Chandrasekharan was murdered brutally by inflicting over 50 hacks and stab injuries at Onchiyam in Kozhikode district on May 4, 2012. Chandrasekharan locked horns with the CPM leadership over ideological issues and formed the Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP). This was the provocation.
Chandrasekharan's wife K K Rema, who is a MLA, said that with the court upholding the conviction of 12 and additionally convicting two more CPM activists, CPM leadership's involvement in the case was becoming more clear. She also said that she will approach SC against the acquittal of CPM leader P Mohanan.
CPM local leaders K K Krishnan and Jyothi Babu, who were among those acquitted by the trial court, were found guilty by the HC.
The trial court in 2014 sentenced 12 of the 36 accused in the case. Eleven of them were sentenced to life imprisonment. Those convicted included party local leaders P K Kunjananthan, K C Ramachandran and Manojan.
A detailed probe into the larger conspiracy behind the murder was initiated by the then Congress government in Kerala. The probe was also reportedly leading towards top leaders of the party on the basis of call records and mobile phone locations. But it remained inconclusive.