Fifteen individuals associated with the prohibited Popular Front of India (PFI) were given the death penalty on Tuesday for the murder of Ranjith Sreenivasan, a local leader of the BJP, in the town of Alappuzha, Kerala. The verdict was delivered by Mavelikkara additional sessions judge V G Sreedevi. Sreenivasan held the position of state secretary of the BJP's OBC Morcha.
Issuing death sentences to numerous convicts simultaneously is a first for the state. The Kerala high court must approve the decision.
Sreenivasan was tragically killed in a violent manner at his residence while his wife, mother, and child were present on December 19, 2021.
All of the offenders hail from Alappuzha. The convicted accused are Komalapuram native Naisam, Mannanchery native Ajmal, Alappuzha West native Anoop, Aryad Thekku native Mohammed Aslam, Mannanachery native Abdul Kalam (Salam), Adivaram native Abdul Kalam, Alappuzha west native Safaruddin, Mannanchery native Manshad, Alappuzha West native Jaseeb Raja, Mullakkal native Navaz, Komalapuram native Sameer, Mannanchery North native Naseer, Mannanchery native Zakir Hussain, Thekkeveliyil native Shaji (Poovathil Shaji), Mullakkal native Shernaz Ashraf.
The Kerala BJP posted on X: "Justice for the heavenly Ranjith Srinivasan who was brutally murdered by PFI terrorists. Mavelikkara Additional Sessions Court awarded death sentence to 15 accused in the case. Congratulations to the prosecution, investigating officers and lawyers."
On January 20th, the additional sessions court in Mavelikkara found all the defendants guilty in the case.
The prosecution claims that Sreenivasan was killed with a sword as a response to the murder of KS Shan, an SDPI state secretary, the previous night. SDPI is believed to be the political arm of PFI.
