The State Government on Friday morning released former Inspector General of Police K Lakshmana, who was serving a life-term at Poojappura Central Jail here. Lakshmana, who was found guilty in the Naxal Varghese murder case in 1970, was awarded life-term by the CBI Court, which was later upheld by the High Court.
He was subsequently jailed in October 2010. The release order was issued by the Director-General of Police (Jails) under the provision of the Kerala Prisons Rules, 1958, to release persons aged above 75 years and in poor health. Three other persons, Kuruppaswami, 82, Gopinathan, 82 and Sreedharan, 81, were also released as per the order. Lakshmana, who was released around 6.30 am, later told mediapersons that he was framed in the case. Alleging a mystery behind the CBI Court verdict, he said that former Naxalite ‘GROW’ Vasu had conspired against him in the case.
Lakshmana also called for a reinvestigation into the case.