Kochi: CBI Special Court Judge Seshadrinathan N on Friday sentenced 10 CPM workers to double life imprisonment for the murder and conspiracy in the killings of Youth Congress workers Kripesh (21) and Sarathlal P K (24) nearly six years ago. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh each under Sections 303 (murder) and 120B (conspiracy) of the IPC.

Judge Seshadrinathan also handed five-year prison terms to former Udma MLA and CPM's Kasaragod District Secretariat member K V Kunhiraman, Kanhangad Block Panchayat president and CPM District Committee member K Manikandan, and two other CPM leaders for forcibly taking away second accused Saji C George, from police custody.

Kunhiraman was in line to become the next Kasaragod District Secretary of CPM and Manikandan was groomed by the party to be a future MLA.

"This case reflects and represents the bizarre offshoot of political vandalism culminating in the premature death of two vibrant youths, leaving their family members to incessant woe," wrote Judge Seshadrinathan in his judgment.

Although CPM leaders have often been caught on camera storming police stations to rescue party workers arrested for crimes, this possibly marks the first instance of top leaders being convicted and sentenced for aiding the escape of murder accused from police custody.

Notably, the Kerala Police did not charge the four leaders for rescuing the accused from their custody. It was the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that indicted the leaders for taking away an accused after taking over the case, following petitions from the families of the slain Youth Congress workers to the High Court, citing a lack of confidence in the police investigation and their chargesheet.

The 14 CPM leaders and workers were sentenced despite the CPM-led LDF government’s attempts to block the CBI from taking over the case. Congress General Secretary and Alappuzha MP K C Venugopal said that the government spent Rs 1.17 crore of public funds and went to the Supreme Court in a futile effort to prevent the CBI’s involvement. Meanwhile, CBI sources estimate that the government’s total expenditure on this failed attempt was nearly Rs 3 crore.

Kripesh alias Kichu and Sarathlal alias Joshy were hacked to death on February 17, 2019, in the run-up to the Lok Sabha election. Though the CPM dismissed the double murders as a local issue borne out of personal enmity, the CBI proved in the court that the killings were not personal but politically motivated and stemmed from a conflict between CPM's student wing SFI and Congress's Kerala Students' Union.

The CBI submitted a charge sheet with 24 accused, 10 more than in the Kerala Police charge sheet. But the special CBI court acquitted 10 accused on December 28 for lack of evidence. Those who were sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and conspiracy are Peethambaran A (54), a former member of CPM's Periya Local Committee murder, Saji C George (47), Suresh K M (33), Anil Kumar (39) alias Abu, Gijin (32), Shrirag R alias Kuttu (26), Aswin A alias Appu (21), CITU worker Subeesh alias Mani (33), and Ranjith T (30) and A Surendran alias Vishnu Sura (50).

Except for Gijin, who is a civil contractor, all the rest are daily wage labourers and drivers.
CPM's district secretariat member K V Kunhiraman (62), a two-time MLA from Udma, CPM Kasaragod District Committee member, Kanhangad Block Panchayat president K Manikandan (45), Raghavan Velutholy (54) -- former Pakkam local secretary and ex-district president of the CPM's traders' wing, Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Samithi) -- and K V Bhaskaran (58), retired secretary of the CPM-controlled Panayal Service Cooperative Bank, were sentenced to five years of imprisonment under Section 225 of the IPC for forcibly taking away Saji C George, the second accused and now convicted of murder.

On the intervening night of February 18 and 19, 2019, a day after the double murder, Bekal Police caught Saji C George and were holding him in their jeep at the Pakom-Cherootta forest area when the CPM leaders trooped in and took him away.
Manikandan was arrested on May 14, 2019, and released on bail the same day. The other three leaders were never arrested. All four remained out even after they were convicted on December 28, 2024.

The CBI court fined the four leaders Rs 10,000 each. The fine amount realised from all 14 convicts (Rs 20.4 lakh) should be given to the families of the victims, the court ruled.

Plea for lighter sentencing

Appearing for the accused, ace criminal lawyer C K Sreedharan pleaded with the court for the maximum concession in punishment, arguing that the double murder should not be considered a rarest of rare cases. The Supreme Court had ruled that the death sentence is awarded only in such cases.

Adv Sreedharan pointed out that the convicts are first-time offenders, not habitual criminals, and sought exemption from capital punishment. Sreedharan also argued that the convicts should be given an opportunity for reform, and highlighted that former MLA K V Kunhiraman has an elderly mother, which warrants leniency in sentencing.
On the other hand, the prosecution, led by Bobby Joseph Y, countered that the murders of Kripesh and Sarathlal were politically motivated, with no personal animosity involved. He said most of the convicts did not have anything personal with the two slain Youth Congress workers. He called for the maximum punishment, stating that the crimes were proven beyond doubt. "Overall, it is a good verdict," he said outside the court.

However, the families of the Kripesh and Sarathlal said they would appeal against the verdict. They were expecting capital punishment for those involved in the double murder. They were also not happy with the acquittal of the 10 accused.
Those acquitted by the Special CBI court are Murali A (A9), Pradeep alias Kuttan (11), CITU worker Manikandan B alias Alakode Mani (A12), CPM Periya Local Secretary Balakrishnan N (A13), Sastha Madhu (A16), paternal uncle of Gijin (A5), trader Regi Varghese (A17), Hariprasad A (A18), an employee of a CPM-run cooperative bank, Rajesh P alias Raju (A19), CPM's Echiladukkam branch secretary, and accused 23 and 24, Gopa Kumar V and Sandeep P V.
Murali and Pradeep were in prison for nearly six years. They were arrested by Kerala Police.
Sastha Madhu, Regi Varghese, Hariprasad, and branch secretary Rajesh were in prison for three years. They were arrested by the CBI on December 1, 2021.

Why the killings

The killings of Kripesh and Sarathlal were rooted in escalating tensions at People's Co-Operative Arts and Science College, Munnad, a CPM stronghold in Kasaragod's Bedadka panchayat, where all 17 wards are CPM-controlled. The college often witnessed clashes, driven by SFI's intolerance towards rival student organisations, including CPI’s AISF. When KSU resisted, violence ensued, and Youth Congress workers Kripesh and Sarathlal took up the cause of KSU’s efforts on the campus. According to the CBI, their murders were the result of a clash between SFI and KSU workers and aimed at suppressing their active Congress work in the locality. On January 5, 2019, Sarathlal allegedly twisted the arm of CPM leader A Peethambaran in the presence of Surendran alias Vishnu Sura (A15).

Following the assault, the CPM workers met for four hours at the Echiladukkam bus stop to plot the murders of the two Youth Congress workers, the same day.

Emotional rollercoaster for justice

On February 17, 2019, Kripesh and Sarathlal were ambushed by a hit team led by CPM’s Peethambaran while returning from a temple reception meeting. The attackers blocked their motorcycle at Kannadipara, striking it with a rod, and attacked with swords. Anil Kumar inflicted a fatal head wound on Kripesh's head, while Sarathlal sustained 20 injuries, including 14 deep cuts. Both succumbed to their injuries.

Bekal Police registered an FIR under Section 302 of the IPC for murder. The very next day the District Crime Branch, Kasaragod, took over the investigation. But the government handed over the case to the State Crime Branch, Malappuram Unit on February 25.

The State Crime Branch filed the charge sheet against 14 accused before the Judicial First Class Magistrate’s Court, Hosdurg. Kripesh and Sarathlal’s families petitioned the High Court, alleging a sloppy investigation and demanding a CBI probe. On September 30, 2021, the High Court directed the CBI to take over, setting aside the Crime Branch’s charge sheet, and calling it an exercise based on the versions given by the accused. The CBI registered the case on the court's direction but the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government appealed against the order.
On August 25, 2020, the Kerala High Court's Division Bench reinstated the charge sheet but ordered the CBI to conduct further investigation into the case. The state splurged public money and approached the Supreme Court by roping in ace lawyer Maninder Singh to block the CBI investigation.

Singh told the apex court that "slackness of investigation by the State Police cannot be a ground for transfer of investigation to CBI". He also told the court that transferring the case to the CBI "will affect the morale of the state police". But the Supreme Court on December 1, 2020, upheld the Division Bench order and directed the reluctant police to hand over the case diary and documents to the CBI.

The state police gave up on the documents on December 10, 2020. A year later in December 2021, CBI DySP T P Ananthakrishnan, who investigated the case, submitted its charge sheet naming 24 accused.