Kochi: ‘How did the political motive in Periya double murder case’s FIR change to personal vendetta in the chargesheet?’ the Kerala High Court asked while considering the bail pleas of the accused in the Periya murder. ‘If enmity was towards one person, why was a second one killed too?’ it made a verbal observation.
The HC made the observations during bail pleas of accused number two Saji C George, accused number nine Murali and accused number 10 Ranjith. The prosecution argued that the motive changed as the investigation progressed. The hearing was posted for May 28 after HC said it had to study the case diary.
The court also raised questions about accused’s claim of false charges and why accused-9’s phone records were not analysed.
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.
After months of investigation, the Crime Branch had submitted a 900-page chargesheet of the case to First-Class Magistrate Court earlier this week.
