20 acquitted in Onchiyam Murder Case

September 11, 2013
Kozhikode

The Special Additional Sessions Court (Marad Cases) trying the murder of Revolutionary Marxist Party leader T.P. Chandrasekharan on Wednesday acquitted 20 of the 56 accused of the charges, including two leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and an office-bearer of the Students Federation of India (SFI).

Among those acquitted are Karayi Rajan (26th accused), member, Kannur district secretariat, CPI(M); E.M. Shaji (23rd accused), secretary of the Kallamala West branch, CPI(M); and Sarin Sasi (56th accused), Kannur district president, SFI.

The case pertains to a seven-member gang, allegedly hired by the CPI(M), hacking Chandrasekharan to death at Vallikkad, near Onchiyam, on May 4, 2012.

Judge R. Narayana Pisharadi acquitted them of the charges under Section 232 (if, after taking the evidence for the prosecution, examining the accused and hearing the prosecution and the defence on the point, the judge considers that there is no evidence that the accused committed the offence, the judge shall record an order of acquittal) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.PC).

Last week, the court had heard the arguments of special prosecutors C.K. Sreedharan and P. Kumarankutty and defence counsel K. Gopalakrishna Kurup in this regard. The defence counsel had then argued that there was either no evidence or feeble evidence against 24 accused in the case.

They had been made accused based on the police investigation and mahasars prepared by the investigators.Even those prosecution witnesses who had given statement under Section 164 (recording of confessions and statements) of the Cr.PC had turned hostile in the case.

Source– http://www.thehindu.com

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