E-Paper
Kerala CM rejects central probe into murder of Congress workers
Youth Congress workers Kripesh and Sharath Lal were hacked to death allegedly by a group of CPI(M) workers in Periya of Kasargode district in last February.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Tuesday there was no need to hand over the probe into the cases of murders of two Youth Congress workers to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Youth Congress workers Kripesh and Sharath Lal were hacked to death allegedly by a group of CPI(M) workers in Periya of Kasargode district in last February. Both Pinarayi Vijayan and state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan had distanced from the murders, most of the arrested were active workers of the party.
Kerala High Court had handed over the case to the central probe agency but the order was later stayed by its division bench.
Pinarayi Vijayan reasoned that the investigation in the case was heading in the right direction and there was no need to engage another agency now.
The state assembly witnessed uproarious scene over the issue and opposition Congress alleged that industry minister EP Jayarajan had used unparliamentary words during the ruckus.
Assembly Speaker Sivaramakrishanan pacified the opposition and said such words won’t go in the records of the House. The CM also described opposition charges as “non-sense and unsubstantiated.”
The issue unfolded after Congress member Shafi Parambhil moved an adjournment notice, saying the government was planning to shield the accused in the case and scared to hand over the probe to CBI.
He said the government was paying lakhs of rupees of the taxpayers to engage senior advocates to protect the killers. He said many party leaders were involved in the brutal killings and the government wants to protect them.
“Why you are scared if there is no blood in your hands?” Ramesh Chennithala, opposition leader, asked while intervening in the discussion.
Replying to the motion, an angry Pinarayi Vijayan said the government was well within its right to go in for an appeal and said Parambhil’s observation was “nonsense”.
“The government is not supposed to answer to any nonsense uttered by some members,” he said, inviting a bout of protests from the opposition benches.
Both opposition and treasury members then rushed to the well of the House but an intervention by the Speaker averted a further showdown.
Congress leader VD Satheesan later said that minister Jayarajan used derogatory words against opposition members.
Last week, a senior leader of the CPI(M) had made a controversial remark about the murders as he compared the killers to Lord Krishna.
“Lord had annihilated his own uncle Kamsa and many other evil people but he was not known as the killer,” N Balakrishnan, district leader, had said justifying the killings.
