Kochi: Five days after a CBI court sentenced 10 CPI(M) workers to double life sentences and four others, including a former legislator, to five years in prison in the Periya twin murder case, the Kerala High Court on Wednesday stayed the sentence for the latter four.
The case revolves around the brutal killings of Youth Congress workers Kripesh (19) and P.K. Sarath Lal (24) in Periya, Kasaragod district, on February 17, 2019. While the CBI court convicted 14 individuals and exonerated 10 others, former CPI(M) legislator K.V. Kunhiraman and three others were sentenced to five years for their involvement in the murder. However, after the CBI court found Kunhiraman and the others guilty of forcibly removing the second accused from police custody, the CPI(M) leadership condemned the Centre for allegedly using the CBI to target political rivals of the BJP.
The CPI(M) has maintained that Kunhiraman and the others were not named as accused when the Kerala Police and Crime Branch handled the investigation, and it was only after the CBI took over the case that their involvement was cited. With the High Court staying the sentence, Kunhiraman and the three accused are set to be released from Kannur jail, where they have been detained since last Saturday.
The CBI court had sentenced double life terms to eight of the accused directly involved in the murders, while six others received lesser sentences for their indirect roles. The killings were described by the court as politically motivated, part of ongoing tensions between CPI(M) and Congress workers in the region. Initially investigated by the Crime Branch, the case was later handed over to the CBI following a plea from the victims’ families in the High Court.
Reacting to the High Court's stay, Sarath Lal’s father said they would pursue further legal action against both the stay and the exoneration of the 10 accused.
With IANS inputs