A Special CBI Court in Kochi has sentenced ten individuals to double life imprisonment in connection with the brutal 2019 Periya twin murder case, in which two Youth Congress workers, Kripesh (19) and Sarath Lal PK (24), were killed. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh on each of the convicts. The compensation will be directed to the families of the victims.
The verdict by the CBI court on December 28 had convicted 14 out of the 24 accused.
The convicts, who got double life imprisonment, include CPI(M) leaders A Peethambaran, a former local committee member, and Subeesh, a CITU leader. The remaining accused, including Anil Kumar, Jijin, Sreerag, Aswin, Renjith T, Saji C George, and Suresh, received the same sentence. The accused were convicted for their roles in the politically motivated murders that occurred on February 17, 2019, following a series of violent clashes between CPI(M) and Congress workers in the region.
In addition to the ten who received double life sentences, five CPI(M) leaders were handed five-year prison terms, with a fine of Rs 10,000 each. The leaders sentenced to five years include KV Kunhiraman, former MLA and CPI (M) district leader; K Manikandan, president of the Kanhangad block panchayat; N Balakrishnan, former Periya local secretary; Raghavan Velutholi, former Pakkam local secretary; and Rajesh, the secretary of the CPI(M) Echiladukkam branch.
The case dates back to the murder of Kripesh and Sarath Lal, whose deaths were linked to ongoing political violence in the region. The killings occurred while the victims were returning from a temple festival in Perumkaliyattam. Investigations revealed that the incident stemmed from an earlier altercation involving Sarath Lal and a group of CPI(M) members, including A Peethambaran and Surendran, after a clash between SFI and Youth Congress members in January 2019.
The CBI took over the investigation in 2020 after the Kerala High Court quashed an earlier charge sheet filed by the Kerala Police Crime Branch. A total of 24 individuals were named in the investigation, with 14 eventually convicted and 10 acquitted.