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Ranjith (45) was the BJP’s OBC morcha state secretary, and an advocate by profession. He had contested the 2016 Assembly elections as the BJP candidate from Alappuzha constituency. He had been a special invitee in the BJP state committee and had served as additional standing government counsel in Alappuzha.
Besides, he had been a member of the management committee of the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology. He had been actively involved in welfare measures for coastal communities and fishermen. The BJP had identified him as an upcoming leader from the coastal belt.
How was he killed?
On December 19, 2021, Kerala woke up to the news of two tit-for-tat political killings in Alappuzha, within 12 hours and 10 kms.
The previous night around 7 pm, Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) state general secretary K S Shan (39) was attacked at Mannanchery. SDPI is the political wing of Popular Front of India (PFI), which was banned in 2022 by the Centre for activities “prejudicial to the integrity, sovereignty and security of the country”.
Shan was on a two-wheeler when a car-borne gang hit him from behind. After he fell from the two-wheeler, the gang hacked him, inflicting multiple wounds. He was rushed to a local hospital and later to Kochi, where he died around 11.30 pm.
Barely seven hours later, a gang of assailants forced their way into the house of Ranjith Sreenivasan. As he came out hearing the commotion, the gang attacked him. He was hacked to death in front of his mother, wife, and younger daughter. His face was disfigured.
What was the background of this violence?
Tensions between the Sangh Parivar and PFI had been running high in Alappuzha in 2021. In February of that year, an RSS worker, 22-year-old Nandu R Krishna, was murdered in Vayalar allegedly by an SDPI-PFI gang. This came after the SDPI took out a march in Vayalar in protest against the Kerala visit of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The RSS also marched against the PFI, allegedly raising “provocative slogans”.
Shan’s murder on December 18 was believed to be in retaliation to Nandu’s killing, and this in turn provoked the murder of Ranjith. The PFI had allegedly prepared a ‘hit list’ of BJP-RSS leaders to be targeted in the event of a revenge attack for Nandu’s murder.
In 2021, Kerala saw five political killings involving the SDPI and Sangh Parivar activists. Three of them were in Alappuzha district.
Why were the 15 given the death sentence?
The court said the chance of the convicts indulging in crime in the future cannot be ruled out, and that they believed they were morally justified. “The most important aspect is that the heinous crime was committed in the comfort zone i.e., in the house of the victim, in the presence of his mother, wife and minor child. The attack lasts for a span of less than three minutes. But within such a short span of time, they could inflict the maximum injuries ie., 46 injuries, all clear, incised and depressed fractures or penetrating injuries.”
Quoting a state government report, the court said the probability that the accused can be reformed and rehabilitated is little. They have never shown any repentance for what they have done, because they believe they have committed the crime for their organisation, it noted.
The court also took into account that as part of conspiracy, the PFI men collected photographs of selected BJP leaders and underwent training, which is apparent in the injuries they managed to inflict within three minutes. “A holistic examination of the material on record shows that the barbaric offence in question could only be termed as a rarest of rare case,” the court said.
What’s happening in the Shan case trial?
The police had submitted chargesheets in both murders on March 17, 2022. In the Shan murder case, the chargesheet named 15 persons belonging to the RSS. However, the trial in this case is yet to begin for want of a special prosecutor. Some advocates initially identified by the government were not keen to take up the job.
All the accused in the case are on bail.
Last week, the government appointed a special prosecutor and the court is likely to consider the case early next month. The SDPI has been demanding a time-bound trial without any more delay.
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