KASARGOD: Youth Congress worker Kripesh, who was murdered allegedly by a gang led by former CPM member A Peethambaran, had faced real threats on social media. The Congress of Kalliyot, a hamlet near Periya, shared a list of threats issued to Kripesh on Facebook pages and WhatsApp groups sympathetic to the CPM, and submitted to the police as evidence.
A Congress leader in Kalliyot said Ashwin - one of the accused arrested in the case - was at the forefront of making life threats to Kripesh.‘He is the sacrificial chicken of Kalliyot’ and ‘He is ready to die, here everything is ready’ are two of the posts written by Ashwin on Facebook.
There were more threats on a Facebook page called ‘Periyayille Sakhakal’ or ‘Periya’s Comrades’, he said.A year ago, Kripesh had filed a police complaint after receiving threats online. Kripesh’s Facebook profile link was often pasted along with the threats.
Kripesh had stopped the SFI - the students’ wing of the CPM - from raising funds for the family of slain activist Abhimanyu at the Government Higher Secondary School at Kalliyot.Abhimanyu was stabbed to death allegedly by Campus Front of India activists in Maharaja’s College on July 1, 2008.
According to SFI workers, Kripesh, a former student of GHSS, Kalliyot, allegedly used derogatory words against Abhimanyu and his father, and opposed the attempts to raise funds in the school. A perusal of the online posts shows that Kripesh had irked the SFI supporters.
In reaction, Ashwin’s brother posted Kripesh’s photograph and criticised his stance. In a comment to the post, Ashwin wrote: ‘He is ready to die, here everything is set’.“Kalliyot is not in Pakistan. Be careful. Don’t get beaten up,” said another post on a group called ‘John Jafer Janardhan’. ‘What’s the matter, son? Heard you are trying to show off in public’.