Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan finds Akash Thillenkeri, the first accused in the murder of Youth Congress leader Shuhaib, so contemptible that he was not even willing to utter his name in the Assembly.
And when he had to give out his name, Pinarayi called him by his school name, Aakash M V. It was as if appending Thillenkeri to Akash would be an unbearable slight on the legendary Communist village in Kannur.
"This person who is now being talked about (indirect reference to Akash Thillenkeri) has been involved in a lot of things our society can never approve of. We don't normally protect such people. We try to correct them but it does not work, we take action," the Chief Minister said, suggesting that the CPM never suspected initially that Akash was such a reprehensible character.
The Chief Minister was responding to the adjournment motion moved by Congress MLA T Siddique on the new revelations made by Akash Thillenkeri in his Facebook post on Shuhaib's murder. "We are not a party that will ever protect goonda and quotation gangs," Pinarayi said.
Akash and his partner in crime Jijo Thillenkeri are now in preventive detention.
Pinarayi also said it was unfortunate that the Opposition UDF was "leaning" on such people to the attack the CPM. "How can such people become so dear to you," he asked. "I suspect that there is an attempt to glorify their words," he said, referring to the political storm kicked up by Akash's Facebook post that had put the party in the dock.
Opposition Leader V D Satheesan expressed his wonder at the Chief Minister's assertion. "It is not as if this guy had suddenly indulged in criminal acts. He has been doing the things that you now said the CPM would never tolerate for quite a long time. He has been doing the killings for the CPM. He was part of the PJ Army (a group dedicated to P Jayarajan)" Satheesan said.
"You said we are leaning on him to attack you. But you people had carried him in your arms," the Opposition Leader said. He said the party had even started a 'chitty' to protect the killers of Shuhaib. He said he had proof to back this. None on the ruling side contested this.
"If you found this chap so evil, why did a DYFI leader present him with a trophy recently," he asked.
Further, Satheesan said that even if Akash and Jijo were booted out of the party, the CPM had reinstated the membership of other accused in the Shuhaib murder.
Siddique said that Akash was always treated as a VIP convict. "While in Kannur jail, arrangements were made for his girlfriend to talk to him for six hours," Siddique said. The Chief Minister did not contradict.
Satheesan then reminded the Chief Minister that he should not forget that he had "leaned" on unreliable characters to tarnish the former UDF government and its Chief Minister "who was loved by the people". He was referring to the Solar scandal accused Saritha S Nair who according to Satheesan was used by the CPM to demand a CBI enquiry against Chandy.
The Opposition demand on Friday was for a CBI enquiry into Shuhaib's murder. Siddique said the LDF government had spent lakhs on top lawyers, including the Centre's additional solicitor general Ranjith Kumar, to thwart the attempt of Shuhaib's parents to get the CBI to probe the case.
The Chief Minister said the LDF government had opposed a CBI enquiry because it would undermine the "efficient" and "fair" work done by the Kerala police in the case.
Satheesan had a counter. "If the police investigation was so efficient as you say why were there no attempts made to find the owner of the vehicle in which the killers arrived and bring him to justice," he asked.
Earlier, the Chief Minister had ridiculed the remark of the High Court single bench which said on March 7, 2018, that the Shuhaib murder was a fit case to invoke the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). Pinarayi said the division bench had later set aside the Single bench order.
Satheesan said Shuhaib's killers had actually used bombs and explosives to create a scare before hacking him to death. "You don't invoke UAPA in such cases but would use this to incarcerate students who merely possessed some books," Satheesan said, referring to the arrests of Alan and Thaha by invoking UAPA.
Earlier, while moving the adjournment motion, Siddique had said that under section 173(8) of the Indian Penal Code, there should be a reinvestigation if there was a new revelation in the case. He said Akash's Facebook post in which he said he had murdered Shuhaib at the CPM's orders should be considered a new revelation.
The Chief Minister made the intriguing claim that the investigation officer in the case had not come across or heard of such a development, and therefore was not obliged to begin a new investigation.
Satheesan sounded puzzled. "The party and everyone else had heard of it except your investigation officer. Does this policeman walk with his eyes and ears shut," he asked.
