Periya murder case: Double life term for ten accused, four CPM leaders awarded five-year imprisonment

KOCHI: The Kochi CBI Special Court has pronounced the quantum of sentenced to the accused, including CPM leaders, in the Periya double murder case in Kasargod. The first eight accused and accused 10 and 15 were awarded double life term and also imposed a fine. Accused 14, 20, 21 and 22, including former MLA K V Kunhiraman, were given five years imprisonment. The first eight accused are directly involved in the murder. The sentence was pronounced by CBI Special Court Judge Seshadrinathan.

First eight accused A Peethambaran (former Periya local committee member), Saji C George, K M Suresh, K Anilkumar (Abu), Jijin, R Srirag (Kuttu), A Ashwin (Appu), Subeesh (Mani), tenth accused T Ranjith (Appu), and 15th accused A Surendran (Vishnu Sura) have been awarded double life imprisonment. 14th accused K Manikandan, 20th accused, K V Kunhiraman, 21st accused Raghavan Velutholi and the 22nd accused, K V Bhaskaran, were sentenced to five years in prison.

Kripesh's family said they are not satisfied with the verdict. 'Even if they are released after serving life sentences, the accused will continue doing such crimes. We are the ones who lost, and the pain of it will never go away. I hope that no other family will have to face our situation. At least death penalty should have been awarded to the first eight accused,' said Kripesh's sister.

Youth Congress activists Sarath Lal (23) and Kripesh (19) were murdered in 2019. Judge N Seshadrinathan had convicted 14 including former Uduma MLA K V Kunhiraman on December 28. Ten were acquitted. Ten of the accused who had to face punishment were found guilty of murder and conspiracy.

A Peethambaran, a local CPM leader was the main mastermind of the double murder. Eight including the first accused Peethambaran, were directly involved in the attack. Kripesh and Sarath Lal were hacked to death due to political differences and previous enmity and the case was initially investigated by the police and the crime branch. There was an attempt at the highest level to keep the case under wraps without reaching the CPM leaders.

When the family approached the high court alleging that the investigation was unsatisfactory, the government tried their best to stop the arrival of the CBI. When the high court gave the green light to the CBI, the government also appealed to the Supreme Court. For this legal battle, they spent millions from the treasury and hired prominent lawyers. The CBI took over the investigation on December 10, 2020 when the appeal was also rejected. It was with the arrival of the CBI that leaders including Kunhiraman were caught.