Life sentence for the seven-member killer gang on Tuesday in the murder of rebel CPI (M) leader T P Chandrasekharan has brought an end to the blood-stained history of the convicts. Almost all members of the supari group had been allegedly involved in several political murder cases in Kozhikode and Kannur districts, but they had evaded prosecution until the Chandrasekharan murder case.
According to sources, the gang members together face 75 cases, including eight murder cases; apart from the Chandrasekharan murder case. The gang members, owing allegiance to the CPI (M), were earlier involved in the murder of many Sangh Parivar workers in Kannur.
The prominent criminals in the convicted gang are N K Sunil Kumar alias Kodi Suni, 31, and T K Rajeesh, 35. Suni has been facing 37 cases, including two murder cases and kidnap incidents. Suni was the first accused in the murder of Popular Front of India (formerly National Development Front) Muhammed Fazal in 2006. Fazal had been a CPI (M) worker, but shifted loyalty towards the Muslim outfit. The CBI, which probed the case, had found that the killer gang was hired by the CPI (M) to wreck vengeance upon the renegade. Two CPI (M) leaders in Thalassery, Karai Rajan and Karai Chandrasekharan have been made accused in the case.
Another case of Suni was the murder of RSS activists M Vijeeth and K Shinoj of Mahe, in 2010. The nature of hacks found on the bodies of Vijeeth and Shinoj had led to the arrest of Suni in the Chandrasekharan murder case. A forensic surgeon who conducted the autopsy on Chandrasekharan had recalled the similar wounds found on the bodies of Vijeeth and Shinoj. Suni had most of his supari assignments for the CPI (M).
The arrest of T K Rajeesh, 36, had exposed how a proxy accused had been produced in the murder of young BJP leader K T Jayakrishnan in 2000. Jayakrishnan was hacked to death in front of his students in a classroom.
After being arrested in the Chandrasekharan murder case, Rajeesh had confessed to the police that he was in the team that pounced on the BJP leader. Rajeesh’s role had never come to the fore in the political murders in Kannur. BJP has demanded the reinvestigation into the Jayakrishnan murder case. Rajeesh was involved in the murder of another RSS worker Sooraj Kumar in Kannur in 2005. Rajeesh arrest had been recorded in the murder cases of RSS men Premjith in 2007 and V C Vinayan in 2009. Both cases were in Kannur.
Kirman Manoj, 32, was involved in 16 cases including two murder cases of BJP leaders in Kannur. After being arrested in the Chandrasekharan case, Manoj had told the police about his alleged role in the murder attempt on RSS activist Chandni Pradeep of Thalassery in 2009. Manoj had never figured in the list of the accused. Pradeep had sustained 46 hacks. Along with Kodi Suni, Manoj also was involved in the murders of Fazal and two RSS men in Mahe.
Other criminals convicted in the Chandrasekharan case – M C Anoop, K K Muhammed Shafi, S Sijith and K Shinoj – were also facing several criminal cases, including murder charges. Anoop has five cases, including a murder case. Shafi, who has several cases linked with goon activity, was involved in the twin murder of RSS men at Mahe in 2010.
