Alappuzha: Fifteen accused were found guilty in the murder case of BJP leader Ranjeet Sreenivas on Saturday.  The judgment was pronounced by Judge Sreedevi V G at the Mavelikkara Additional District Session Court-I following an extensive trial. The order on quantum of punishment is expected on Monday.

The accused, namely Naisam, Ajmal, Anoop, Mohammed Aslam, Abdul Kalam alias Salam, Abdul Kalam, Saffaruddin, Manshad, Jaseeb Raja, Navas, Sameer, Nazir, Abdul Kalam, Zakir Hussain, Shaji, and Shernas Ashraf, were found guilty of the crime. Notably, the first eight accused, directly involved in the killing, were convicted under Section 302 (punishment for murder). All the accused are members of the now-outlawed Popular Front of India and its political arm, the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI).

A total of 156 prosecution witnesses presented their statements before Judge Sreedevi V G during the trial. The prosecution team submitted approximately 1,000 documents and 100 material objects as evidence in connection with the case. 

Family welcomes verdict
The family of the late Ranjeet Sreenivas welcomed the court's verdict. Special Public Prosecutor Prathap G Padickkal, along with advocates Sreedevi Prathap, Shilpa Sivan, and Hareesh Kattoor, represented the prosecution side throughout the proceedings.

"We're satisfied with the court verdict which found all the 15 guilty. We hope that all of them will get the maximum punishment," said Vinodini (71), mother of Ranjeet. Her son was brutally murdered in front of her.  

The police had arraigned 15 people, including 12 assailants, in the chargesheet related to the murder of BJP’s OBC Morcha State secretary Ranjeet Sreenivas nearly two years ago.

The case
Ranjeet, a lawyer, was hacked to death at his house at Vellakinar in Alappuzha in front of his mother, wife, and young daughter on December 19, 2021.

According to police, the killing of Ranjeet was a retaliatory strike by the SDPI men to avenge the murder of its State Secretary K S Shan the night before. Shan was knocked down from his bike by a car at Mannancherry the previous night and was stabbed by a group of assailants. The murders happened within a short span of time, prompting discussions on intelligence failure and the lack of adequate precautionary measures on the part of the police.

Both Shan and Sreenivas had contested in the 2016 Assembly polls from Ambalappuzha and Alappuzha constituencies, respectively. Shan had also contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from the Alappuzha seat. The case was investigated by a special team led by Alappuzha DySP N R Jayaraj.

Earlier, the trial in the case was transferred to the Mavelikkara court from Alappuzha based on a High Court order. The High Court moved the case considering a plea filed by the accused seeking to transfer the trial to another district.

The deceased was also a lawyer in the Alappuzha Bar Council. The lawyers under the bar council informed they wouldn’t appear for the accused. At the same time, the court had also asked the Alappuzha district police chief to ensure that the counsel representing the accused contested the case without any fear.