Chargesheet filed in Periya double murder

Kasaragod: The Crime Branch has submitted the chargesheet in the Periya double murder case.

The 900-page chargesheet was submitted before the Kanjangadu First-Class Magistrate Court on Monday morning.

The fourteen accused in the case include A Pithambaran, Saji C George, Suresh, Anil, Gijin, Sreerag, Ashwin, Subeesh, Murali, Renjith, Pradeep, Unni, Balakrishnan and Manikandan. All the accused are either local leaders of CPM or its followers.

In all 229 witnesses, 105 evidence and 50 documents have been submitted to the court for consideration. Twelve vehicles including five cars, two jeeps, and five bikes, have also been submitted to the court.

All the accused with the exception of accused no 12, 13 and 14 are still in jail.

While the Ernakulam Crime Branch Police Superintendent V M Rafiq and Kottayam Crime Branch Superintendent Sabu Mathew supervised the investigation in the sensational case, the case was under the special supervision of Crime Branch IG Sreejith.

The investigation was led by Kasargod DYSP Pradeep Kumar.

On February 17, a gang led by CPM former branch secretary Peethambaran had hacked to death Youth Congress activists from Kallyott, Kripesh and Sarathlal, while they were returning home from a local function.

The charge sheet was filed amidst accusations by the victims' kin that the investigation was being sabotaged by the Crime Branch. Family members of the slain youths and Congress had demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), since CPM's involvement in the crime was evident.