We were targeted because we are party leaders: Former CPI-M MLA

by IANS |

Kannur, Jan 9 (IANS) Former CPI-M legislator K.V. Kunhiraman on Thursday alleged that the CBI targeted him and other party leaders in connection with the Periya twin murder case just because they are party leaders. The case involves the brutal killings of Youth Congress workers Kripesh (19) and P.K. Sarath Lal (24) on February 17, 2019, in Periya, Kasargod district.

Kunhiraman made the statement shortly after being released from the Central Jail in Kannur. This followed the Kerala High Court's decision on Wednesday to stay the Kochi CBI Court’s verdict, which had sentenced him and three other CPI-M leaders to five years in prison.

In the same case, the CBI court had also sentenced 10 CPI-M workers to double life terms last week. These 10 were found to have direct or indirect involvement in the politically motivated murders, while Kunhiraman and the three others were given lesser sentences.

“We were targeted because we are party leaders,” Kunhiraman said. “Since the verdict, we refrained from commenting, trusting the judiciary. We submitted our appeal on January 6, and by January 8, the High Court stayed the CBI court’s ruling. Our party knows we are innocent; this is part of an agenda to malign us. Notably, nine out of the 10 initially charged by the CBI were exonerated.”

Senior CPI-M leaders gathered outside the jail to welcome the soft-spoken former legislator. The CBI had charged Kunhiraman and three others with forcibly removing the second accused from police custody during the case's investigation.

The CPI-M has maintained that the Kerala Police and the Crime Branch, in their initial investigation, did not name Kunhiraman or the other three as accused. Their names were added only after the case was transferred to the CBI.

The Periya twin murders were politically motivated, with the victims being killed by CPI-M workers. According to the court, eight of the accused were directly involved in the murders, while six others played indirect roles. The court sentenced the eight directly involved to double life terms, while two conspirators received the same punishment.

The case, initially investigated by the Crime Branch, was handed over to the CBI after the victims’ families filed a plea in the High Court. The CBI concluded that the murders were part of a cycle of politically driven violence between CPI-M and Congress workers in the region.