The Crime Branch (CB) team, which is probing the murder of the two Youth Congress workers in the Kasaragod district of Kerala, on Monday concluded that ‘personal enmity’ was the motive behind the murders and that there was no ‘political angle’. The two members of the Congress party's youth wing, 24-year-old Sharath Lal and 22-year-old Kripesh, were attacked on February 17 by three men. While Krupesh died at the Kasaragod district hospital, Sharath Lal succumbed to his injuries on way to a medical facility in Mangaluru city of Karnataka.
According to a report by the New Indian Express (TNIE), the CB in its chargesheet submitted to the Hosdurg Judicial FIrst Class Magistrate Court said that even though politicians are involved in the crime, the motive had no political angle and that it was purely based on personal enmity. As per the report, 14 persons have been named in the chargesheet as accused and all of them have links to the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which is the main constituent of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala.
The chargesheet stated that eight persons, including the CPI(M) Periya local committee member A Peethambaran, were directly involved in the crime. Peethambaran, who is alleged to be the main conspirator and was expelled from the party, was arrested for the murders in February.
As per reports, three persons have been charged for helping to execute the plan and a total of 11 persons are currently in judicial custody. The three other persons, including CPI(M) Udma area secretary and Periya local committee secretary N Balakrishnan, were charged for helping the accused destroy evidence. These two persons, however, were granted bail by the court on the same day they were arrested.
According to a report by the Times of India, the families of Sharath Lal and Kripesh have termed the chargesheet a farce, which was prepared to satisfy the interests of the political leaders.
Sathyanarayanan K, father of Sharath Lal was quoted to have said, “We all know it was the party leadership that executed the murders and whatever claims the investigating agency has made by terming it as personal enmity is a farce.”