Periya murder case: Four accused welcomed by senior CPI(M) leaders after release

Kannur (Kerala), Jan 9 (PTI) The four CPI(M) members, including a former MLA, whose sentences in the Periya twin murder case were suspended by the Kerala High Court a day earlier, received a warm welcome from the Left party upon their release from prison on Thursday.

Several senior CPI(M) leaders, including Kannur District Secretary M V Jayarajan and senior leader P Jayarajan, were present outside the central prison since morning to greet them.

When the four accused—former MLA and CPI(M) district leader K V Kunhiraman, Kanhangad block panchayat president K Manikandan, Raghavan Velutholi, and A V Bhaskaran—emerged from the prison, they were welcomed with red garlands by party leaders.

Speaking to reporters, Kunhiraman said that all four of them were given punishments they did not deserve but chose not to react against it as they believed in the justice system.

He expressed gratitude to the party for its support and voiced confidence that they would be acquitted in the case.

"We were implicated in the case because we are party leaders," Kunhiraman added.

P Jayarajan, speaking to reporters outside the jail after welcoming the four accused, alleged that the CBI had pursued a political agenda to portray the CPI(M) as a party of killers.

"CBI is not an impartial investigating agency," he added.

Defending the welcome given to the accused, CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan said there was nothing wrong with receiving them with garlands.

"How else should we welcome those who were falsely implicated in a case for political reasons?" Govindan asked while speaking to media in Thiruvananthapuram.

He further said the party had no involvement in the killing of the two Youth Congress activists and described the CBI probe into the matter as "politically motivated." Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, V D Satheesan, criticised the welcome given to the four accused, stating that it sends the wrong message to future generations in Kerala.

The four were sentenced to five years imprisonment by a CBI court on January 3 in connection with the murder of two Youth Congress workers in Periya, Kasaragod district, five years ago.

On January 8, the Kerala High Court suspended the sentence of the four accused and granted them bail.

The court observed that in cases involving fixed-term sentences, where the appeal is unlikely to be heard before the completion of the term, "the execution of the sentence passed against the accused shall be suspended, and they shall be enlarged on bail." Earlier, on January 3, a CBI court sentenced 10 persons to life imprisonment and handed five-year sentences to K V Kunhiraman, K Manikandan, Raghavan Velutholi, and A V Bhaskaran.

The individuals sentenced to life imprisonment include former CPI(M) Periya local committee member A Peethambaran, along with Saji C George, Suresh K M, Anil Kumar K, Gijin, Shrirag R, Aswin A, Subeesh, and Ranjith T.

The case concerns 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 filed a chargesheet on December 3, 2021, against 24 accused persons. On December 28, the court found eight guilty of murder and conspiracy charges, six guilty of conspiracy, destruction of evidence, and aiding the crime, while 10 were acquitted. PTI HMP SSK HMP ROH