Kasaragod: The Kasaragod Additional Sessions Court - II on Wednesday acquitted four SDPI workers charged with the attempted murder of BJP-RSS worker Jyothish — himself accused and later acquitted in multiple communal murder and attempt-to-murder cases.
Jyothish (35), who was defended in trial courts by BJP leader and ace criminal lawyer P S Sreedharan Pillai, died by suicide on February 15, 2022, reportedly due to financial distress.

Additional Sessions Judge Priya K acquitted SDPI workers Rafeeque Badira alias Rafeeque BM, Muhammed Ashraf, Abdul Hameed TK, and Sabir CM, after the prosecution failed to prove even the location of the alleged attack.

"At best, it was a minor motor accident case. The police stretched it into an attempt-to-murder case, possibly because Jyothish was involved, but their court case was riddled with contradictions," said Adv PE Mohammed Rafeeque, who represented the four accused.

According to the prosecution, on August 10, 2017, Rafeeque Badira drove a car with the other three accused, rammed into Jyothish’s motorcycle, and then assaulted him with dangerous weapons at Anangoor in Kasaragod town.

The Town Police charged the four SDPI workers, all residents of the area, under IPC sections 307 (attempt to murder), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons), 120B (criminal conspiracy), and 34 (common intention).

However, the prosecution could not prove any of the charges. "When the defendants applied for bail after 30 days in prison in 2017, the sessions judge wondered why Section 307 was invoked when the police had little beyond a motor accident," said Adv Rafeeque.

The defence counsel pointed out that the police registered the FIR before Jyothish had even checked into the hospital. "The court noted how the investigating officer invoked Section 307 without a wound certificate from a doctor," he said. The medical report recorded only minor bruises, likely from Jyothish falling off his motorcycle.

The case fell apart further when witness testimonies contradicted the prosecution’s version of events. According to the first information statement (FIS), the attack took place near Mallikarjuna Temple on PM Road in Nullipady, Kasaragod town. But most eyewitnesses in court said the incident occurred on the way to Jyothish’s home at JP Colony, about a kilometre away.

The prosecution listed 47 witnesses, including Jyothish’s pillion rider and friends who reportedly reached the scene soon after the incident. "But their statements in court contradicted each other on the sequence of events," said Adv Rafeeque.

Another glaring flaw was the prosecution’s claim that the car used in the crime belonged to Rafeeque Badira’s brother. "In court, we proved the car actually belonged to an unrelated woman who had no connection to the accused," the defence counsel said.

"The prosecution banked on the perception — right or wrong — that SDPI workers are usually in conflict with the law. But the court looked only at hard evidence," Adv Rafeeque said.

The defence team included Adv Vinod Kumar from Thalassery and Adv Sharanya P.

Meanwhile, another trial is ongoing regarding a previous attempt on Jyothish’s life, which took place at Fourth Mile near Cherkala on February 5, 2013.

Jyothish, a resident of Anangoor, had been charged in at least three murder cases and two attempt-to-murder cases. His first arrest was for the 2008 communal murder of Muhammed Sinan when he was 21. He was acquitted in 2017, with Adv Pillai — now the Governor of Goa — defending him. The court had pulled up the police and investigating officer K Damodaran for a shoddy probe in the Sinan case.

Jyothish was also accused of the murder of Rishad, a textile shop salesperson stabbed to death on January 9, 2011, and in the December 22, 2014, killing of SDPI activist Zainul Abid. Abid was closing his mattress shop on MG Road when a gang stormed in and stabbed him in front of his father. Jyothish was arrested in that case.

Kasaragod police and the prosecution have failed to secure convictions in eight of the last nine communal murder cases in the district. Recently, the Kerala Police reopened the 2008 murder investigation of RSS leader Adv P Suhas after acknowledging that the charge sheet filed before the Thalassery Sessions Court was weak.