Hello, this is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. Tune in to get updated about the major news stories of the day.
Hello, this is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. I'm your host, Vishnu, and these are the major news stories of the day:
1. Palakkad twin murders: Identities of killers, except two, established
2. E P Jayarajan to replace A Vijayaraghavan as LDF convener
3. KV Thomas invokes Antony in reply to AICC, attacks Sudhakaran
4. Anjali Reema Dev snared Roy, Kozhikode girl in POCSO case to avoid repaying Rs 13 lakh, say police
5. Lakhimpur case: Supreme Court cancels Ashish Mishra's bail
Let's get into the details:
1. ADGP Vijay Sakhare, who is in charge of probing last week's twin murders in Palakkad, on Monday said that the police had gathered clinching evidence to proceed against those involved in the killings that took place within a span of 24 hours on April 16 and 17. While SDPI leader Subair was hacked to death on April 16, RSS activist A Sreenivasan was killed, in what seemed like a retaliatory attack, on the very next day.
The police team probing the murder of Subair has taken three people into custody. Those detained were directly involved in the murder, police said.
In Sreenivasan's case, the police have closed in on six people. The identities of four and their connection to the murder have been established. "However, we need to confirm the identities of two," Sakhare told reporters in Palakkad on Monday. He hinted that the arrests of Sreenivasan's alleged assailants, too, would happen soon.
Sakhare also refuted earlier rumours that some of the assailants had left Kerala after committing the crime. The ADGP also confirmed what was already very sharply suspected, that the culprits belonged to either SDPI or the RSS. Sakhare said the probe was also focused on finding the "conspirators" behind the two killings.
"We know these people we have identified now are just the foot soldiers. Our investigation is to find out the conspirators and those who harboured these criminals and provided them with logistical support," the ADGP said.
--------------------------------
2. With A Vijayaraghavan finding a place in the CPM politburo, former minister and CPM central committee member E P Jayarajan has been appointed as the new LDF convenor. The decision was taken at the CPM State Committee and State Secretariat held here on Monday. Though there were instances of a PB member holding the post of the LDF convenor, like in the case of V S Achuthanandan, the CPM wanted Vijayaraghavan to spend more time at the national level. This prompted Vijayaraghavan to step down from the LDF convenor's post.
There was already speculation that either Jayarajan or A K Balan would succeed Vijayaraghavan as the LDF convenor.
Now, Jayarajan, who is two years younger to Balan, has been chosen to replace Vijayaraghavan. Both Jayarajan and Balan are said to be close to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Both were ministers in the first Pinarayi Vijayan ministry but had to keep out of the Assembly contest in 2021 because of the CPM's two-term norm.
A top source in the CPM said that Jayarajan was chosen for his man-management skills. "He is an organisation man and has always demonstrated a special skill to unite people for a common cause," the leader, a central committee member, said. At this juncture, when K-Rail and liquor policy have already caused slight disagreements within the LDF, it is important to have a leader like Jayarajan who can aggressively push forward Pinarayi Vijayan's agenda without causing unease among LDF partners.
------------
3. Senior Congress leader K V Thomas, facing disciplinary action for attending a CPM event violating party diktat, on Monday unleashed a scathing attack against KPCC president K Sudhakaran. Alleging a long-pending attempt to expel him from the party, Thomas said Sudhakaran has been trying to weaken the Congress in Kerala. "The party should rethink if it needs such a leadership in Kerala. I'm not the only one who got several party and parliamentary positions. If the party gave me certain posts, I have also served my party back. Those who are older than me are still occupying top posts in the party," he said.
He also demanded that investigations should be conducted into the financial status of Sudhakaran also. Earlier, Sudhakaran had irked Thomas saying that though the latter claims to be hailing from a fisherman's family, one should look into his financial status now.
Thomas made the scathing remarks on a day when the Political Affairs Committee of the party was meeting. Thomas, a member of the decision-making body, has not been invited to the meet.
-------------
Ad: Hindi seems to be the hottest topic of discussion in the country today. Be it politicians, celebrities, or the all-knowing, all-seeing Twitterati, India is deeply divided over the proposal to make Hindi compulsory. Tune into the latest episode of News Brake with Haritha this Wednesday and find out all about the controversy, its history and where is it headed.
------------
Now, coming back to your daily dose:
4. The police probe team has come to the conclusion that the entrepreneur from Kozhikode, Anjali Reema Dev, was the mastermind of the POCSO case in which No 18 hotel owner Roy J Vayalat is the first accused. Anjali is the third accused in the case. According to the police, Anjali trapped the minor girl in the racket with the aim of avoiding repayment of Rs 13 lakh taken as loan from her, and her mother, who is the complainant in the case.
Anjali's aim was to capture the visuals of Roy intimidating the minor girl and later blackmail her mother using these visuals. Roy gave a statement to the police that he had no idea about such a game plan by Anjali.
Saiju M Thankachan, who is a co-accused along with Roy in the case involving the the death of two models in an accident, is the second accused in the POCSO case. It was from Saiju that Anjali came to know about Roy's sexual predilection. The complainant mother and her minor daughter actually fell into the trap laid by Anjali and Saiju.
Anjali introduced Roy to the mother-daughter duo as an entrepreneur, having good clout in the fashion industry to offer good placements for freshers. Likewise, Anjali had brought many girls from Kozhikode to Kochi, offering them good jobs in the fashion industry. Many of these victims are keeping mum due to the fear of loss of reputation, the police said.
The police have also registered a case against Anjali and Saiju for human trafficking.
-----
5. The Supreme Court on Monday struck down the bail granted to Ashish Mishra, son of Union minister Ajay Mishra, in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case. A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana pronounced the verdict. The top court on April 4 had reserved its order on a plea of farmers seeking cancellation of bail to Ashish Mishra. The apex court had earlier raised questions over the Allahabad High Court verdict granting bail to Ashish Mishra, saying unnecessary details like postmortem report and nature of wounds should not have gone into when the trial was yet to commence. The special bench, also comprising Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, had taken strong note of the fact that the state government did not file an appeal against the high court's order as suggested by the apex court-appointed SIT.
That brings us to the end of this episode. Be sure to come back tomorrow. As always, thanks for listening to Daily News Dose.