National Desk, 30th January: A Kerala court, on January 30, condemned 15 members of the now-banned Popular Front of India (PFI) to death for their participation in the ruthless killing of Ranjith Sreenivasan, a BJP OBC Morcha leader, in 2021.
The court distinguished eight convicts as direct perpetrators, while four were held accountable for their armed presence during the crime. An additional three were convicted for their role in plotting the murder. Notable among the convicted individuals are Naisam, Ajmal, Anoop, Mohammed Aslam, Abdul Kalam alias Salam, Saffaruddin, Manshad, Jaseeb Raja, Navas, Sameer, Nazir, Abdul Kalam, Zakir Hussain, Shaji, and Shernas Ashraf.
The tragic incident unfolded on December 19, 2021, when Sreenivasan was brutally attacked and killed at his home in Alappuzha, Kerala, before his family. The prosecution revealed a hit list, placing Sreenivasan, a lawyer, at the top, discovered on the mobile phone of the third accused, Anoop.
Sreenivasan’s murder closely followed the killing of K S Shan, a 39-year-old SDPI leader from Alappuzha, allegedly targeted by an RSS-BJP affiliated gang on the evening of December 18. Shan succumbed to injuries despite efforts at local and Kochi hospitals. The next Sunday morning, approximately 10 km away, Ranjith Sreenivasan fell victim to an attack by a group of 12 men on six bikes, as confirmed by CCTV footage.
Investigations uncovered that eight out of the 15 convicted individuals directly participated in the act. The assailants, having conducted preliminary surveillance of Sreenivasan’s residence hours after Shan’s murder, intensified tensions, leading to demonstrations by BJP and SDPI activists on the streets and an escalated police presence throughout the state.