10 get life sentence in Kerala's Periya double-murder case

A special CBI court in Kerala's Ernakulam on Friday sentenced 10 convicts to life imprisonment in the Periya double murder case while four more, including former MLA KV Kunhiraman, were jailed for five years.

Those who got life imprisonment included Peethambaran A, Saji C George, Suresh KM, Anil Kumar K, Gijin, Shrirag R, Aswin A, Subeesh, Ranjith T and A Sruendan.

The four others -- Manikandan, KV Kunhiraman, Ragavan Velutholi and KV Bhaskaran -- will have to undergo imprisonment for five years.

The court had earlier convicted them of the murder of two youth activists of the Congress on December 28.

The case called Periya double murder case relates to the murder of two activists of the Youth Congress, Kripesh and Sarathlal, by activists of a rival political party, and was initially registered at Bekkal police station, Kasaragod, and was subsequently handed over to the State Crime Branch.

"It was revealed during investigation that accused Peethambaran A, along with other accused hatched a criminal conspiracy near the bus waiting shed at a place called Echiladukkam in Periya and decided to murder Kripesh and Sarathlal due to political rivalry and enmity," a CBI official said.

Pursuant to such conspiracy, on February 17, 2019, eight men armed with deadly weapons reached the areca nut plantation on the side of the KSEB sub-station, Periya, and waited there for Kripesh and Sarathlal.

When Kripesh and Sarathlal arrived on a motorcycle, these men jumped onto the road and attacked them with iron pipes and swords, causing them fatal injuries.