Periya twin murder: Kerala HC suspends sentence of four convicts

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday suspended the sentence of four accused, including a former CPI(M) MLA, who were sentenced to five years imprisonment in connection with the murder of two Youth Congress workers in Periya, a town in Kasaragod district five years ago.

A bench of Justices P B Suresh Kumar and Jobin Sebastian put on hold the five-year sentence of former MLA and CPI(M) district leader K V Kunhiraman, Kanhangad block panchayat president K Manikandan, Raghavan Velutholi, and A V Bhaskaran on their appeal against their conviction and subsequent punishment.

A CBI court had last week sentenced 10 persons to life in the case and gave five years imprisonment to Kunhiraman, Manikandan, Velutholi and Bhaskaran.

Those who are sentenced to life imprisonment include CPI(M) Periya local committee member A Peethambaran, Saji C George aka Saji, Suresh K M, Anil Kumar K alias Abu, Gijin, Shrirag R aka Kuttu, Aswin A alias Appu, Subeesh alias Mani, Ranjith T aka Appu and A Sruendan alias Vishnu Sura.

The case pertains to the murder of Youth Congress workers Kripesh, 19, and Sarath Lal P K, 24, allegedly by CPI(M) workers on February 17, 2019.

The CBI had said that its investigation revealed that the accused Peethambaran A, along with the others, had hatched a criminal conspiracy near the bus waiting shed at a place called Echiladukkam in Periya and decided to murder Kripesh and Sarathlal due to political rivalry and enmity towards them.

After the investigation, CBI filed a charge sheet on December 3, 2021, against 24 accused.

On December 28, of the 24 accused, the court found eight guilty of murder and conspiracy charges, six guilty of conspiracy, destruction of evidence, and providing assistance in the operation of the crime, while the remaining 10 were acquitted in the case.

According to the prosecution, the twin murders were carried out following politically motivated attacks and counterattacks between CPI(M) and Congress workers in the area.