Kannur: Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has held a special meeting with T P Chandrasekharan murder case accused KC Ramachandran and TK Rajeesh at the Kannur Central Jail. Both of them handed over petitions to Pinarayi.
The chief minister met 18 other prisoners also along with jail advisory committee members P Jayarajan, the CPM district secretary, and Valsan Panoli, a member of the CPM district secretariat. Minister Kadannappally Ramachandran, K K Ragesh, MP, and P K Sreemathi, MP, and state prisons chief R Sreelekha accompanied the CM.
P K Kunjanandan, another accused in the T P case, also sought to meet Pinarayi, but he was denied permission as he had not submitted a written plea.
Indications also suggest that the meeting with Kunjanandan was disallowed to avoid a controversy. However, he greeted Pinarayi as the chief minister emerged after inauguration of some projects at the jail. The chief minister returned the gesture.
The program was scheduled for 9.30 am, but Pinarayi arrived at 9 am for the meeting with prisoners.
K M Shaji MLA was a notable absentee at the function in his own constituency. According to protocol, the MLA has to preside over the function if the minister inaugurates it. However, Kadannapally was asked to preside while Shaji was marked as chief guest.
Jail authorities said the MLA had not told them he would not come, and when called his phone was found switched off. The MLA wasn't available for comments.
T P Chandrasekharan, who floated RMP after he was dismissed from CPM over differences with leadership, was hacked to death by a seven-member gang on May 4, 2012. The murder cast a shadow on the CPM in the state.
Read more: Latest Kerala news
