Kasargod: CBI files charge sheet in Periya double murder case

Kasargod: The CBI on Friday filed the charge sheet in the killing of two Youth Congress workers at Periya in 2019.

CBI DySP filed the charge sheet in the double murder case against 24 accused persons, including five CPI(M) workers, under various charges including murder, criminal conspiracy, and unlawful assembly.

“The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed a charge sheet against a total of 24 accused before the CJM, Ernakulam (Kerala) in a case related to alleged murder of Shri Kripesh and Shri Sarat Lal at Periya Village, District Kasargod,” the CBI said in a release.

The central agency said it conducted a thorough investigation and examined more than 300 witnesses and collected several documents in the case.

“During the investigation, it was alleged that there were some politically motivated attacks and counter attacks between the workers of two political parties in the area. It was further alleged that the brutal attack on the two victims was a retaliation to the earlier attack on one of the accused in the charge sheet and others, who hatched conspiracy to attack the victims,” the CBI said.

It was also alleged that in pursuance to the said conspiracy, the victims were brutally attacked on February 17, 2019 with deadly weapons causing grievous injuries to the deceased who succumbed, the release said.

CBI had registered a case on October 23, 2019 against 14 accused in pursuance to the Kerala High Court order on September 30 the same year.

The release further said the CBI had arrested five accused on December 1, 2021 who are currently in judicial custody in addition to the 11 other accused earlier arrested by State Police who are also in judicial custody.

The agency had yesterday told the court that former CPI(M) MLA K V Kunhiraman has been arraigned as an accused along with 4 others in connection with the case.

Of the 24, 19 have been arrested and of them 17, including the five arrested on Wednesday, are in judicial custody presently.

On Wednesday, the five CPI(M) workers were arrested after their hours-long questioning revealed they were allegedly involved in collecting weapons, providing transport facilities and telling the assailants about the travel route of the victims — Kripesh and Sarath Lal, a senior CBI officer said.

The arrests came just two weeks before the expiry of the four months time given by the Kerala High Court to CBI to file a charge sheet in the case.