KOZHIKODE: The order of the High Court division bench upholding the trial court’s sentence in the TP Chandrasekharan murder case has once again punctured the CPM’s claim that the party had no role in the crime.
Apart from confirming the sentence, the HC also convicted two regional CPM leaders who were acquitted by the trial court. KK Krishnan, former Onchiyam area committee member, and Geothi Babu, former Kunnothuparamba local committee member, were found guilty of criminal conspiracy.
The court also upheld the conviction of PK Kunhanandan, the Panur area committee member who passed away in 2020. The CPM argued vociferously that Kunhanandan’s name had been unnecessarily dragged into the case.
In the only relief for the party, the HC confirmed the acquittal of P Mohanan, who is currently its Kozhikode district secretary.
The party state committee maintained that RMP leader Chandrasekharan’s murder was the result of his rivalry with CPM local leader K C Ramachandran. Following an inquiry, Ramachandran was expelled from the party. Then CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and other leaders had visited him in jail before announcing the decision.
It was the arrest and conviction of Kunhanandan that embarrassed the party the most. As an influential leader, he spearheaded party activities in the Panur area. In a condolence message following his demise, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan called Kunhanandan a respected leader.
The RMP consistently maintained that Chandrasekharan was murdered at the instance of the top CPM leadership. It said a ‘mission’ involving two district committees would not have been possible but with the knowledge of the state leadership. The main accused were arrested from Mudakkozhimala, in Kannur district, a CPM stronghold, it had said.
A look back
Timeline of important case developments that unfolded after T P Chandrasekharan’s murder
2012
May 4: RMP leader T P Chandrasekharan murdered at Vallikkad in Vadakara
May 24: Annan Sijith, member of the murder squad, arrested
June 9: CPM leader P Mohanan arrested
June 15: Gang leader Kodi Suni arrested from hideout
August 13: Special investigation team files chargesheet
Feb 13, 2013: Trial begins at Special Additional Sessions Court
Jan 23, 2014: Court pronounces verdict
CPM welcomes High Court verdict
Welcoming the verdict, CPM state secretary M V Govindan said the party was forced to intervene because its leader, the current CPM Kozhikode district secretary P Mohanan, was falsely implicated in the case. “Mohanan was arrested and paraded like a thief,” he said. Govindan added the party has already clarified that it has nothing to do with the incident. “It was the UDF that politicised the case,” he said.
UDF will support Rema’s move to file appeal, says V D Satheesan
Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan has said that the UDF would support the decision of K K Rema, MLA, and RMP to file an appeal against the acquittal of top CPM leaders in the case. “The verdict reinforces the faith of the people in the judiciary. The High Court order underscores the role of the CPM and the conspiracy hatched in the brutal killing of T P Chandrasekharan. By killing T P, it has been revealed that the CPM is a mafia group that will do anything to eliminate its opponents,” Satheesan said in Kochi on Monday.