Mannanthala Ranjith murder case: TVM court to pronounce verdict on Nov 17

Thiruvananthapuram: The Thiruvananthapuram Additional Sessions Court will pronounce its verdict on November 17 in the 2008 murder case of RSS worker Ranjith, who was hacked to death at his shop in Mannanthala. Additional Sessions Judge Sudhakanth will deliver the judgment.

Ranjith was murdered on October 17, 2008, at around 5.15 am, at Vinayaka Fruits, his shop at Kottamukulam in Mannanthala. According to the prosecution, a group of CPM workers arrived at the shop in two cars and a motorcycle and attacked him with sharp weapons over political rivalry.

The prosecution alleges that four accused – Ambalamuk Krishnakumar, Velli Narayanan, Gopalan Suresh and Kannan Suresh reached the shop in a Maruti Alto driven by the seventh accused, Firoz Khan. They allegedly entered the shop and hacked and stabbed Ranjith to death. The eighth to tenth accused, Vishnu Vinod, Sankarasubrahmanyam and Godwin Dennis, alias Naveen, allegedly waited outside in another car and a motorcycle. After confirming that Ranjith had been killed, the group fled together, according to the prosecution.

The investigation subsequently uncovered an alleged larger conspiracy behind the murder. Hariprasad, then CPM local secretary and a resident of Palkulangara, was identified as the mastermind. His associates Ajikumar, alias Motta Aji; Ranjith Kumar, alias Chukran Ranjith; and Suresh, alias Karate Suresh, were also named as accused in the case.

The trial witnessed allegations of attempts to intimidate and influence witnesses. Ranjith's mother had approached the then ruling Left government seeking the appointment of a senior criminal lawyer as special public prosecutor. The left did not accept the demand; after which she moved the Kerala High Court. The government subsequently agreed to appoint advocate Prathap G Padickal as special prosecutor.

The prosecution examined 41 witnesses during the trial. However, some witnesses, including a serving Kerala Police personnel, reportedly turned hostile. The prosecution maintained that it had sufficient material evidence, documents and witness statements to establish the involvement of the accused.

Following the completion of the evidence proceedings, Special Prosecutor Prathap G Padickal presented detailed final arguments over several weeks, explaining the alleged roles of each accused in the murder.

With the arguments concluded, Ranjith's family and friends are awaiting the court's verdict on November 17, hoping that those responsible for the murder will be brought to justice.