Periya twin murder case: CBI court found 14 guilty including former CPI(M) MLA
Kochi(PTI): A CBI court here on Saturday found 14 accused including a CPI(M) former MLA guilty in the murder of two Youth Congress workers - Kripesh and Sarath Lal at Periya in Kasaragod district of Kerala five years ago.
Of the 24 accused, the court found the first eight accused guilty of murder and conspiracy charges and another six guilty of conspiracy, destruction of evidence and providing assistance for operating the crime, while remaining 10 accused have been acquitted in the case.
The court will pronounce the sentence on January 3.
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 accused found guilty include former MLA and CPI(M) district leader K V Kunhiraman, Kanhangad block panchayat president K Manikandan, former CPI(M) Periya local committee member A Peethambaran, and former Pakkam local secretary Raghavan Velutholi.
According to the prosecution, the twin murders were carried out after politically motivated attacks and counterattacks between the workers of CPI(M) and Congress in the area.
The CBI filed the charge sheet in this case against 24 persons including six CPI(M) workers under various charges such as murder, criminal conspiracy, and unlawful assembly.
The central agency had taken over the investigation from the Kerala Police on October 23, 2019 on the directives of the Kerala High Court.
The crime branch of the state police had filed a charge sheet on May 20, 2019 against 14 accused, but the parents of the victims moved the high court, seeking quashing of charge sheet expressing anguish over the findings of the police.
The Kerala government opposed a CBI probe in the high court and later at the Supreme Court, but the apex court allowed the central probe agency to carry on with its investigation, officials said.
Sathyanarayanan, the father of the deceased Sarathlal, expressed satisfaction with the verdict but added that the legal fight would continue until all the accused are brought to justice. "Ten accused have been acquitted, and we will pursue legal action after consulting with the prosecutor," he said.
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Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year's trade deal or it will face higher tariffs
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump has said in a social media post that goods from the European Union would face higher tariff rates if the 27-member bloc fails to approve last year's trade framework by July 4.
The announcement on Thursday appeared to be a deadline extension after the president said last Friday that EU autos would face a higher 25 per cent tariff starting this week. Trump made the updated announcement after what he described as a "great call" with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Still, the US president was displeased that the European Parliament had yet to finalize the trade arrangement reached last year, which was further complicated in February by the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency to impose the initial tariffs used to pressure the EU into talks.
"A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!" Trump posted. "I agreed to give her until our Country's 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels."
It was unclear from the post whether Trump was implying that the tariff rates would jump on all EU goods or the increase would only apply to autos.
His latest statement indicates he might be backing away from his earlier threat on EU autos by giving the European Parliament several more weeks to approve the agreement.
Under the original terms of the framework, the US would charge a 15 per cent tax on most goods imported from the EU.
But since the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has levied a 10 per cent tariff while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues, aiming to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.
