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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Police inspector suspended over 'involvement' in honour killing in Andhra's' Palnadu dt
Macherla (Andhra Pradesh) (PTI): A police inspector was suspended on Sunday over his alleged involvement in an alleged honour killing of a woman in a village under Macherla in Palnadu district, a senior police official said.
According to police, the woman, identified as Chowdeshwaramma, was in a relationship with Nagaraj, both belonging to the same community, and had eloped earlier.
"A police inspector was suspended following allegations of involvement in an honour killing case, including suspected monetary transactions with the victim's family," the official told PTI.
Police said the couple had approached the police station after eloping, where the woman's parents assured that they would conduct her marriage with Nagaraj, following which she returned home.
However, after a few days, when the family allegedly did not show interest in conducting the marriage, the woman expressed her intention to go back with the man again, he said.
Subsequently, she was found dead, with the family initially claiming that she died by hanging and filing a complaint accordingly.
The postmortem report later revealed that the woman was murdered by strangulation, contradicting the family's claim, police said.
Allegations later surfaced that the inspector had taken money from the woman's father and was involved in handing her back to the family earlier.
Based on these allegations and failure to take proper action in the case, the inspector was placed under suspension, said the official.
The woman's death is reported to have occurred on March 18, police said.
Meanwhile, police have registered a case under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and relevant sections may be altered during the course of investigation, he added.
