Alappuzha: The Alappuzha South Police has registered at least six cases after posts threatening judge V G Sreedevi, who awarded death sentences to 15 PFI-SDPI workers for their involvement in the 2021 Ranjeet Sreenivas murder case, appeared on social media. “We’ve registered six FIRs with charges of ‘Inciting violence’. Efforts are on to identify the persons behind some more Facebook accounts in which such messages appeared,” a senior police officer said.
The cases have been registered against persons identified as Beevi K U, Aslam Valappupacha, Nazeer Mon Khaleel, Azad Ameer, Rafi Thiruvananthapuram, and Shafeeq. Earlier today, two men were taken into custody on Thursday (February 1) for threatening the judge and Manorama News reported that the men were taken into custody from Alappuzha and Thiruvananthapuram.
On Tuesday, the judge's security was intensified by the police prompted by threats to the judge's life conveyed through social media channels. Meanwhile, a second set of chargesheet, listing the names of the remaining 15 accused, including those abetting the murder and helping in destroying evidence, is expected to be filed soon. Judge Sreedevi, deeming the case as falling within the category of the "rarest of rare", handed capital punishment to Naisam, Ajmal, Anoop, Mohammed Aslam, Abdul Kalam alias Salam, Abdul Kalam, Saffaruddin, Manshad, Jaseeb Raja, Navas, Sameer, Nazir, Zakir Hussain, Shaji Poovathungal, and Shernas Ashraf on Tuesday (January 30).
The entire court premises were fortified with security measures during the verdict announcement, as reports suggested unease among PFI-SDPI cadres regarding the outcome.