Did the public prosecutor dilute a sensational political murder case to help a Kerala CPI(M) leader walk free?

Who is Sreedharan?

Advocate Sreedharan was a former vice-president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), district committee president and chief of the party’s political affairs committee. It was, however, not his political affiliation that had left the CPI(M) cadre fuming.

For them, Sreedharan was a persona non grata, a public prosecutor who had ensured jail for several CPI(M) leaders and cadres involved in political murders in Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod districts for over half a century.

TP Chandrasekharan. (Supplied)

Prominent among the cases was the murder of Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) leader TP Chandrasekharan, known more by his initials ‘TP’, at Onchiyam near Vadakara on 4 May 2012. The brutal murder had shocked Kerala, and the then Opposition leader, CPI(M) veteran VS Achuthanandan, visited the slain leader’s residence, much to the chagrin of the Marxist party.

As the public prosecutor, Sreedharan ensured the conviction of nine hired assassins and three party leaders, who executed the murder to avenge Chandrasekharan’s defiance to the CPI(M) in the latter’s traditional strongholds, Onchiyam and Eranmala.

A CPI(M) splinter group, the RMP claims to be the real Marxist party that upholds communism and internal democracy. Chandrasekharan floated the organisation after his expulsion from the CPI(M) in 2008. The RMP’s local influence soon became a matter of consternation for the CPI(M).

Sreedharan was at loggerheads with the Congress’s state leadership when Vijayan released his autobiography on an October Wednesday evening.

Also read: Congress leadership in a tizzy as Shashi Tharoor ventures out

​Focus back on ​TP murder trial​

A month after the Kanhangad function, Sreedharan left the Congress and took primary membership in the CPI(M), reportedly at the insistence of Vijayan. His switching floors, however, once again made the investigation and trial in the Chandrasekharan murder case a point of discussion in Kerala.

CPI(M) leader P Mohanan. (Supplied)

KPCC president K Sudhakaran fired the first salvo, questioning Sreedharan’s professional integrity. Sreedharan , the Congress leader said, deliberately watered down the murder case to allow CPI(M)’s senior leader P Mohanan, allegedly one of the key conspirators in the case, walk free.

Mohanan, arrested on 29 June 2012, had spent 1.5 years in jail before the Special Additional Sessions Court (Marad cases) at Eranhipalam, Kozhikode, exonerated him on 22 January 2014. The court observed that the prosecution had failed in establishing the charges registered against him.

An appeal against the acquittal is now pending before the High Court of Kerala.

Sudhakaran, once a confidant of Sreedharan, also said the CPI(M) gifted the primary membership for helping Mohanan to escape punishment. More offers will follow, the KPCC president predicted.

The KPCC president’s charges angered Sreedharan. The lawyer has warned of filing defamation cases against Sudhakaran, who had earlier commended his role in the court convicting 12 people in January 2014.

TP’s wife demands probe

“It’s ridiculous. I left the Congress after finding that the party was diluting its core ideology and fast disintegrating in the face of enormous threats posed by the Hindutva outfits. Sensible people in Kerala would naturally find the Left parties as their choice to fight against the draconian regime at the Centre,” he told South First when contacted.

“I, too, had done the same. I accepted only a primary membership in the CPI(M). Is it a reward for anything? If I  had watered down the Chandrasekharan case, how did the others get jail terms,” he asked.

Meanwhile, Chandrasekharan’s wife and Vadakara MLA KK Rema felt that the latest controversy demanded a thorough probe into the conspiracy that plotted the brutal murder. Chandrasekharan was reportedly hacked 51 times.

“The special police team that investigated the murder had found Mohanan among those who hatched the conspiracy. He even spent many months in judicial custody after the arrest. The circumstances under which Mohanan was found not guilty by the trial court require more clarification,” the RMP MLA said.

“After Mohanan’s arrest, the police team ended the investigation into the conspiracy angle due to extreme political pressure. All those undergoing jail term now have no personal animosity against Chandrasekharan. We still believe that Chandrasekharan was killed as per the CPI(M) decision taken with the knowledge and involvement of the party’s topmost leaders in the state,” Rema continued.

She demanded that the allegation Sudhakaran had raised against Sreedharan should also be probed.

CPI(M) leaders in a fix

Meanwhile, the Kasaragod district unit of the CPI(M) is struggling to explain why the party accommodated Sreedharan, especially when he has almost retired from the legal profession and political activities.

Leaders, who preferred anonymity, told South First that Vijayan had directed them to award him the membership. The chief minister had used the book release function to accuse the Congress of mistreating Sreedharan despite his decades-long service to that party.

In Kasaragod, CPI(M) cadres regard Sreedharan as their arch-enemy ever since he defended and secured the acquittal of 53 Congress workers, accused of murdering five party workers at Cheemeni on 23 March 1987, while during Assembly election.

The CPI(M) study classes still point out the Cheemeni massacre as an extreme form of Congress brutality.

Now, the party has no clear answer to offer. Local CPI(M) leaders are finding it difficult to negate the allegation that Mohanan escaped jail term because the party had struck a deal with the public prosecutor.

Sreedharan was the president of the Kasaragod District Congress Committee when he was appointed the public prosecutor.

Sreedharan to get more benefits: MP

When contacted, Sudhakaran told South First that he is standing by what he has said. He added that he was expecting Sreedharan to join the CPI(M) ever since the trial court pronounced its verdict.

“A rejuvenated Congress is winning over the cadres of the Left parties. The party has won several local body by-elections in recent months. The Bharat Jodo Yatra by Rahul Gandhi helped in regaining our lost vigour. Then under what circumstance had Sreedharan moved out? We treated him gently. Why did the chief minister travel a full day to attend the book release event to which no Congress leader was invited,” Sudhakaran asked.

According to Kasaragod Lok Sabha member and Congress leader Rajmohan Unnithan, Sreedharan will get more benefits from CPI(M) soon, as he ensured a safe escape route to not just Mohanan but also to a host of other leaders, who had plotted Chandrasekharan’s murder.

“The CPI(M) is protecting even the families of those hired assassins who had brutally killed Chandrasekharan. No political murder has rocked Kerala like that of Chandrasekharan’s, and it remains a blot on Kerala’s progressive image. If Sreedharan has not compromised in the murder case, how can CPI(M) accommodate him in its fold,” Unnithan asked.

Though the special court had convicted 12 accused in the case, 24 others, including Mohanan, the 14th accused, were let off. Conspiracy charges were slapped on Mohanan.

Other CPI(M) leaders acquitted in the case included Onchiyam area committee member KK Krishnan, Kunnothparamba local committee member Jyothi Babu, another local committee member Padayamkandi Raveendran, Koothuparamba area committee office secretary C Babu, and Koothuparamba area secretary K Dhananjayan.