Kodi Suni - TP Chandrasekharan murder convictKannur: The murder of Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) leader T P Chandrasekharan on May 4, 2012, which shook the collective conscience of Kerala society, has an eerie similarity with the brutal killing of Youth Congress functionary S V Shuhaib at Mattanur on February 12.
Both the attacks were carried out by CPM workers, but the similarity between the two cases does not end there. The police team investigating the Shuhaib murder case has been conducting massive raids at Mudakkozhimala, which was the hideout of the Kodi Suni-led gang which killed Chandrasekharan.
Strikingly, there were alleged leak of information about raids on more than one occasion during the probe into the Chandrasekharan murder case. Similarly, there are reports that information regarding police action was being leaked to the culprits of the Shuhaib’s killing by a section of cops. Moreover, Rajesh Dewan IPS was the additional director general of police (north zone) when T P Chandrasekharan was murdered. He is the director general of Police (North Zone) now.
In the TP case, arguably the most cold-blooded and meticulously planned political murder in Kerala's recent history, the police were able to nab the 43 culprits within 41 days of the crime. It was indeed a golden feather in Kerala police's cap.
Following is the chronology of events in the T P Chandrasekharan murder case:
10.45 pm, Friday, May 4, 2012
A group of assailants who came in a Toyota Innova Multi Utility Vehicle attacked a person who was passing Vallikkad near Onchiyam on a motorbike and hacked him to death using swords. The attackers drove away after hurling country-made bombs to scare away local people who rushed to the spot. The attack was so brutal that his face was mutilated beyond recognition. Later, local people identified the victim as RMP leader T P Chandrasekharan from the registration number of his motorbike and some other apparent hints.
The news of the attack spread like wildfire. The state government, recognizing the seriousness of the matter, immediately passed an order to constitute a special investigation team (SIT) headed by additional director general of police (crimes) Vinson M Paul. There began one of the most complex as well as remarkable crime investigations in Kerala police’s history.
At the first meeting of the SIT, Vinson M Paul had reportedly given a critical instruction to his subordinates. He directed them to make the investigation process more scientific and more rooted in forensic analysis, rather than resorting to heavy-handed and brutal methods.
Conceding the requests of the ADGP, the government gave the nod to include Anup Kuruvilla John IPS, AIG, police headquarters, in the special team. The ADGP’s request to pick officers who do not yield to external pressure or political influence resulted in the induction of Kannur DySP (crime branch) K V Santhosh, Thalassery DySP A P Shoukath Ali, Vadakara DySP Jossy Cherian, and Kuttiady CI V V Benny into the SIT. Many other special teams of officers were also formed to help them out in the investigation. It was the members of these squads who nabbed the culprits from different parts of the country risking their lives.
On many occasions, the SIT had come close to arresting the culprits, but they managed to give the police the slip after being tipped-off about raids. In the first 10 days of the investigation, the special team attempted to analyze the event in reverse order. Lakhs of call data records gathered from Kannur and Kozhikode districts were examined. A special squad was set up at the Hi-Tech crime Inquiry cell in Thiruvananthapuram for the purpose. It was through the scrutiny of phone data that the SIT could establish the link between the accused and some of the CPM leaders.
Google Map to trap Kodi Suni
The phone calls made by those who had close links with the accused in the TP murder case were under the police scanner. On many occasions, the SIT had come close to arresting the culprits, but they managed to give the police the slip after being tipped-off about raids. Finally, the police team got a vital lead that the prime accused Sunil Kumar aka Kodi Suni was hiding at Peringanammala, near Mudakkozhimala.
This time around, the police exercised great caution to avoid any kind of information leakage. It was not an easy task to conduct search operations in the rough and rugged terrain with steep hills and dark, narrow passages. The area was under the surveillance of CPM workers all the time. The cops knew that by the team they could reach the top of the hill, the criminals hiding there might get enough time to escape through the many secret paths leading to the foot of the hill.
To avoid leakage of information about the raid, the SIT did not seek help from the local police, instead they relied on Google Map to locate the hideout. Though the police were certain about the presence of Kodi Suni, they could not confirm who all among the accused were there with him. As the cops anticipated stiff resistance from the gang, all security precautions had been taken. As the SIT had to return empty-handed on several occasions previously following leakage of information regarding raids, only the confidantes of the higher-ups were included in the new team. AIG Anoop Kuruvilla John was entrusted with the task of coordinating the operation. It was decided to conduct the search operation at night.
TP murder convicts in jail.Prior to launching the manhunt, the police blocked all the roads leading to the hill from Muzhakkunnu, Thillenkeri and Malur panchayats under the guise of routine vehicle checks. A team comprising over 20 personnel led by DySP Shoukath Ali reached Muzhakkunnu from Vadakara in a tipper lorry around 2 am. They decided to travel in the tipper lorry as the area was frequented by lorries used to transport laterite stones. The police arrived at the area masquerading as stone mine workers. The team hiked along the rugged trail after reaching Muzhakkunnu from Vadakara via Mahi, Thalassery, Koothuparamba, Mattannur, Uliyil, Thillenkeri and Peringanam.
Another small-sized team chose to travel via Uruvachal and Malur before trekking down the Purulimala to reach Muzhakkunnu. The third squad walked all the way through Muzhakkunnu and Kadukkapalam to reach atop of Mudakkozhimala. The cops climbed the sloppy hills in the only light that came from mobile torches.
The trek up
By the time they reached the foot of the Mudakkozhimala around 2 am, it had started raining. But the unexpected showers turned out to be both a boon and a bane. As the rain got heavier, it became hard to climb up. Mobile phones got wet and stopped working. However, the intermittent showers covered the noise of their movements as they walked stealthily across the valley. It was around 4 am when they finally located the hideout.
The safe hideout of Suni and the gang was at a sloppy area located at a distance of about two kilometers from the road at the very foothill. Their den was a tent-like structure made up of plastic sheets. When the police team reached the spot, Suni and the two other accused, Shafi, and Krimani Manoj, apart from three helpers, were in deep sleep on beds made of plastic sheets and blankets. When the police squad surrounded the tent and ordered the gang to surrender, they pulled out guns in an attempt to intimidate the cops. After half-an-hour long battle, the police were able to overpower them. Neither the local people nor the accused and those who provided them the hideout had any clue of the operation as they were of the belief that the police would not dare to foray into the isolated place bordering party villages.
Kodi Suni, along with others, decided to shift to the Mudakkozhimala after he fractured his leg while trying to escape from the police during a previous operation. It was later revealed that Suni covered the two-kilometer distance by foot with the assistance of the other gang members. Though they had considered moving to another location, Suni’s leg injury spoiled their plans.
The search for Rajeesh
Two police teams were pressed into the manhunt for T K Rajeesh, who led the seven-member hired gang which killed Chandrasekharan. One of the teams, led by C I Azad and Vinod Kumar, first went to Mumbai in search of him. For long, Mumbai has been one of the most preferred cities for bakery workers from Kannur. A majority of them happens to be party sympathizers as well. All these factors led to the suspicion that Rajeesh could be hiding somewhere in the sprawling city. However, the intense search failed to yield any results. When the team was about to wind up the manhunt and return to Kerala, they received a vital information from a Keralite living in Mumbai that some of Rajeesh’s neighbors were running bakeries on the Maharashtra-Goa border and some of them used to visit Mumbai occasionally. Though the police officers realized that the chance of tracking him down was very slim, they decided to go there.
There are many Keralites migrants in Bhedshi, a remote town in Sindhudurg district, located almost 400 km away from Mumbai, who settled there decades ago undertaking farming and bakery business. Though the police combed the entire Sawantwadi, a major town in the area with significant Malayali population, they could not track him down. Disappointed, the team was making their way back to their camp through the village’s interior roads when their vehicle broke down.
As they were trying to repair the vehicle, a man riding a motorbike approached them and offered help. He was a Keralite. The cops struck up a conversation with him and revealed to him about the purpose of their journey, which eventually proved decisive in their hunt for Rajeesh.
The stranger passed on a vital information to them that a man from Kannur was living in a nearby village. He further told them that another person had recently arrived there. The team stayed back and surrounded the house around 3 am. Two of the team members took position in front of the house while two others stood at the backyard. There were two pairs of chappals near the entrance and one of them were larger in size. The cops presumed that it would of Rajeesh because he was big and burly. The cops knocked on the door and took a defensive position expecting resistance from the persons inside. The door was opened by Rajeesh’s friend. CI Azad pushed open the door and entered inside wielding a gun. Their calculations did not go wrong. Rajeesh was inside one of the rooms. Seeing the gun, he surrendered without offering any resistance. The local residents were not aware of the late night operation even when the police team returned with Rajeesh to Kerala the next day.
In the subsequent search operations, the other key accused, S Sijith and M C Anoop, were nabbed from Mysuru and Bengaluru, respectively. The fact that none of the accused were given a chance to surrender before the court was a testimony the investigation team’s efficiency.
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