Fourteen individuals including Babu Panicker, a member of the CPM Kollam district committee, have been found guilty by a special CBI court in Thiruvananthapuram of killing 44-year-old Congress member Anchal Ramabhadran, at Yeroor in Anchal in 2010. The court will pronounce the sentence on 30th July. Meanwhile, four others including S Jayamohan, chairman of the Cashew Development Corporation and a member of the district secretariat, Riyaz, Markson Yesudas and Roykutty who were charged in the case were acquitted due to lack of evidence.
CPM activists killed INTUC office bearer Ramabhadran on 10th April 2010, at approximately nine o’clock at night in his rented Yeroor home. Ramachandran was having a conversation with his kids in the kitchen when the accused burst into the residence. Ramabhadran attempted to flee the house upon witnessing them, however, they went after him and hacked him to death. Ramabhadran was taken to the hospital right away, but the next morning he passed away from his wounds.
The testimony of his wife and two kids, who revealed that the perpetrators mercilessly and cruelly ended the life of Ramabhadran in front of them played a vital role in the case. They were deemed culpable under Sections 20 and 27 of the Arms Act as well as Sections 302, 120 (b), and 201 of the Indian Penal Code. The culprits were identified as Girishkumar, Padman, Afzal, Najmal, Shibu, Vimal, Sudheesh, Shan, Ratheesh, Biju, Ranjith, Sally alias Kochunni, Riaz alias Muneer, DYFI leader Riaz, Markson, former CPM Anchal Area Secretary PS Suman, CPM ex-District Committee member Babu Panicker, Jaimohan, Roykutty, and Ravindran.
The murder trial started late. After Ramabhadran’s family petitioned the court, dissatisfied with the results of the initial inquiry conducted by the local police and the crime branch, the probe was turned over to the CBI. Initially, the local police detained sixteen CPM employees but Bindhu, the wife of Ramabhadran, filed a case with the High Court, asserting that the Left government’s inquiry was unfair which resulted in the CBI’s involvement.
Ramabhadran was an INTUC local leader and the vice-president of the Congress for the Eroor seat. According to the CBI inquiry, Ramabhadran’s attempts to boost the Congress party’s popularity and recruit CPM members to the party were the reason behind the murder. The crime was the result of an altercation between the local Congress workers and the first accused, Girish, a CPM member. The murder was considered to have been caused by animosity over a fight that broke out during a temple celebration in the area, following which Ramabhadran assisted some of the people who had been jailed in obtaining bail, based on other reports.
