BJP Leader Ranjith Sreenivasan Murder : Kerala Court Gives Death Sentence To 14 PFI Members

On January 20, Additional Sessions Court Mavelikara had found 15 persons, who are members of the Popular Front of India(PFI), guilty in the case. The Court pronounced the sentence today against 14 persons. One convict(Nawaz) was not produced before the Court as he is in hospital.

The Court found that the offence of murder was proved against the first eight accused and the other accused were found guilty of criminal conspiracy  

The convicts are Naizam, Ajmal, Anoop, Md Aslam, Salam, Abdul Kalam, Safaruddin, Munshad, Jazeeb, Navaz, Shemir, Nazeer, Zakir Hussain, Shaji, Shamnaz.

It was on the morning of December 19, 2021, that 45-year-old Advocate Ranjith Sreenivasan, who was the leader of BJP OBC Morcha, was brutally hacked to death in his house in Alappuzha in front of his family members, a few hours after the murder of SDPI worker KS Shan. The prosecution case was that it was a case of political murder in retaliation of the murder of Shan. 

Additional Sessions Judge VG Sreedevi observed that the guilt of the convicts was proved beyond reasonable doubt based on the testimonies of three occurrence witnesses(mother, wife and minor daughter), the recoveries of weapons, the presence of blood in the vehicles of the accused and forensic evidence.

The Court noted that the sequence of events started when a young man, Nandu R. Krishna, associated with the RSS, was murdered on 24.02.2021. He was hacked to death by the organization of the accused persons. The Court observed that probably from that day onwards, the accused had an expectation of retaliation and had prepared a list of persons of the rival organization who should be attacked in case any PFI member is targeted.  

"They have chosen a person, who is a philanthropist, a benefactor of society, a good person by all means and a practising lawyer. There is no criminal antecedent reported against him. So, the distinguishing factor is that the moment when Nandu R. Krishna was murdered, they started preparation," the Court observed. 

 No repentance shown by the accused; Ghastly attack

The Court observed that the accused persons showed no signs of symptoms. From their body language, it appeared that they had a firm belief that what they had done was morally justified.

The Court took note of the brutal nature of the attack. Within a few minutes after the death of Shan, the accused started preparation for the attack of a member of the rival group. They chose Ranjith Sreenivasan as the target and reached his house the next morning.

"The attack lasts only a span of less than three minutes. But, within such a short span of time, they could inflict the maximum injuries ie., 46 injuries and none of the injuries are abrasions or lacerations, but all are clear incised and depressed fracture or penetrating injuries", the judgment noted.

The attack was so brutal that the skull and teeth of the victim were shattered. It was carried out in the presence of the mother, wife and minor child of the victim.

"The attacks were aimed at such parts of the body in succession where even a single blow would have been sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course. Denuding the lower part of the body showed an element of perversity. The brutality of the attack of a single person by 12 persons in conspiracy with other three persons, accused Nos.13 to 15 would be revealed from the scene of occurrence because even the parts of skull were seen scattered and a tooth was also seen scattered in the room," the judgment stated.

"Taking into consideration of the brutality of attack, the vulnerability of the victim and the diabolic notes, acts of perversion cumulatively would definitely justify the imposition of death penalty," the Court observed.

The Court also ruled out the chances of reformation and rehabilitation of the accused in the light of the reports of the State that they have shown no signs of repentance and continued to believe that their acts were morally right.

Click here to read the judgment