Kottayam: A court in Kerala’s Mavelikkara awarded death sentence to 15 convicts of the now-banned Popular Front of India for the murder of BJP OBC Morcha state secretary Ranjith Srinivasan in Alappuzha more than two years ago.
On January 20, 15 people were convicted, but when Additional Sessions Judge VG Sridevi pronounced the verdict, only 14 of them were present in the court as one of the convicts was in hospital.
Hours after SDPI leader KS Shan was murdered by a gang in Alappuzha, Srinivasan was attacked and killed at his home in front of his family on December 19, 2021. SDPI is considered the political wing of PFI, but escaped the ban from the Centre. PFI and its affiliated organizations in September 2022.
A Kerala court has sentenced 15 PFI workers to death for the murder of a BJP functionary, making it the first time in the state that so many convicts have been awarded death sentence together. The court earlier found that eight of the accused were directly involved in the murder, while four others were present at the scene with deadly weapons to prevent Srinivasan from escaping and to prevent anyone from entering the house.
The court found that Srinivasan’s murder was a well-planned conspiracy, preparations for which had begun well in advance, and not mere retaliation for Shan’s murder. Police found a hitlist in the mobile phone found during investigation, in which BJP officials were also included.
Srinivasan’s family, who were present in the court, welcomed the verdict. Srinivasan’s wife Lisha said, “This was an exceptionally rare case, and our loss is immense. We express our gratitude to the prosecution and investigating authorities for conducting a thorough and honest investigation, which resulted in maximum punishment for the accused. “