July 2, 2018 is etched in the minds of Maharaja’s college students as it was on that day that they lost one of their own. SFI leader and 2nd year Chemistry student Abhimanyu M was stabbed in his heart during a midnight clash with the Campus Front - SDPI workers, near the back gate of the college. Within minutes of being admitted to the hospital, he was declared dead. One year since his passing away, despite a clampdown on SDPI and PFI in the state, the Kerala police has failed to apprehend the prime accused in the case.
Among the 16 Campus Front workers who broke into Maharaja’s college on the fateful day, 21-year-old Sahal H from Nettoor, Maradu, was responsible for hacking Abhimanyu on his chest. Meanwhile Mohammad Shahim, a 31-year old Campus Front worker from Palluruthy injured Abhimanyu’s friend Arjun. Both Sahal and Shahim remain missing to date.
“The police are trying their best to nab the culprits. However, both Sahal and Shahim have been absconding and untraceable. There is no information on their location,” says advocate Mohanraj, the public prosecutor in Abhimanyu’s case. The statement comes even as speculations about Sahal fleeing the country has been doing the rounds for months now.
Apart from the duo, the special investigation team has managed to apprehend 14 of the other accused in the case. All of them belong to Campus Front, the student wing of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI). Meanwhile, SFI workers have busied themselves with the building of a memorial for Abhimanyu inside Maharaja’s campus. KSU - student wing of the Congress has accused that the SFI the student wing of the CPI(M) has failed to agitate against the police, despite investigations not coming to a satisfactory end.
Interestingly, members of the KSU undertook a protest march to the Ernakulam district Collector’s office on Monday, demanding the arrest of all accused in the case and questioning SFI’s silence. The political body also agitated against the installation of Abhimanyu’s memorial inside the educational institution. Clamping down on the march, the Kochi city police arrested 16 KSU protestors and later let them out on bail.
Abhimanyu was murdered last year, during a clash over sticking party posters on the walls of the Maharaja's college campus. The trial for his murder began on Tuesday, at the Ernakulam Principal Sessions court. However, Abhimanyu’s family is convinced that the government and party (CPI(M) are doing everything in their capacity to apprehend the accused.