Kerala High Court upholds life sentence of five BJP workers for murder of CPI(M) activist in 2006

A bench noted that the killing of 24-year-old Yackoob by throwing a bomb at his head was a retaliation for the assault of a BJP worker a few days before the incident.

Kochi (Kerala): The Kerala High Court has upheld the life sentence of five BJP activists for the murder of a young CPI(M) worker by throwing a bomb at him in Kannur in 2006, terming it as another incident of a person losing his life due to the political rivalry between the two parties in that district.

A bench consisting of justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Jobin Sebastian noted that the killing of 24-year-old Yackoob by throwing a bomb at his head was a retaliation for the assault of a BJP worker a few days before the incident.

"This is another incident in which a young man aged 24 years lost his life as a victim of the political rivalry that existed between CPI(M) and BJP, two political parties, in Kannur district," the bench said.

It upheld the decision of the trial court convicting and sentencing to life Vijesh (43), Prakashan (48), Kavyesh (43), Manoharan (31) and Sankaran Master (49), saying there were no discrepancies in the statements of the witnesses -- party colleagues of the victim -- who had faced the attack and named the five accused as the main perpetrators.

The bench said that the post-mortem findings were consistent with death due to a blast injury to the head, "with total loss of the brain".

"A conjoint reading of the evidence of the doctor and the post-mortem certificate issued by him undoubtedly reveals that the death of Yackoob was homicidal and that the injury sustained to the head resulted from a bomb blast," the High Court said.

It also noted that two of the witnesses had suffered injuries in the attack on the CPI(M) activists by BJP workers on the night of June 13, 2006, and their version of the assault was consistent with the nature of the wounds found on their bodies.

The bench also accepted the version of two of the witnesses that they saw one of the accused throwing a bomb at the head of the victim, which exploded and killed him instantly.

The defence lawyers had claimed that the statements of the witnesses were not the same and had differences, but the bench rejected it.

The High Court also rejected the defence argument of a delay in lodging an FIR, saying that the police initially went on patrolling to ensure law and order was maintained in the area to prevent other similar incidents, and a case was registered six hours after the death of the victim.

The bench also said that though the bomb was hurled by one of the accused, all of them were liable for the murder, as the act was done in furtherance of the common objective of the unlawful assembly to kill Yackoob.

"The accused, who inflicted a grievous injury on the head of the deceased by hurling a country-made bomb and causing an explosion, cannot be heard to say that they did not conceive an intention to murder the deceased in this case.

"Resultantly, we confirm the findings, conviction, and sentences passed by the Additional Sessions Judge," the bench said, dismissing the appeals of the five accused against their conviction and life sentence.

According to the prosecution, the accused BJP workers hatched a conspiracy to kill Yackoob, a CPI(M) activist, and on June 13, 2006 formed themselves into an unlawful assembly armed with dangerous weapons, including country-made bombs, and criminally trespassed into the house where the victim and his party colleagues were present.

On seeing the accused armed with weapons, the victim and his friends got scared and ran in different directions, and as they were attempting to escape, a bomb was thrown at the head of Yackoob, the prosecution had said.

The bomb exploded and killed the CPI(M) activist on the spot, it had said.