The Kerala High Court has granted an interim suspension of the sentences for four individuals, including a former CPI(M) MLA, involved in the notorious Periya twin murder case. The decision came on Wednesday when Justices P B Suresh Kumar and Jobin Sebastian responded to appeals against the conviction and sentences handed down by a CBI court.
The suspended sentences affect former MLA and CPI(M) district leader K V Kunhiraman, Kanhangad block panchayat president K Manikandan, Raghavan Velutholi, and A V Bhaskaran, all of whom had been sentenced to five years imprisonment last week. This judicial action follows the CBI court’s decision to sentence ten others to life imprisonment for the murders of Youth Congress workers Kripesh, 19, and Sarath Lal P K, 24, which occurred in Periya, a town in Kasaragod district, on February 17, 2019.
The murders, which have been attributed to a violent political rivalry and enmity, have underscored ongoing tensions between the CPI(M) and Congress workers in the region. According to the CBI’s investigation, the convicted former CPI(M) Periya local committee member A Peethambaran, along with other associates, was found to have orchestrated a criminal conspiracy to execute the killings.
The CBI’s probe into this high-profile case led to a charge sheet filed against 24 individuals on December 3, 2021. Of those charged, the court convicted eight of murder and conspiracy, six of conspiracy, destruction of evidence, and providing assistance in the operation of the crime, while ten were acquitted.
