THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A court in Kerala on Tuesday sentenced nine BJP-RSS workers to life imprisonment in connection with the murder of CPM worker Rijith Shankaran in 2005.
The Thalassery Additional Sessions Court sentenced all the nine RSS-BJP activists who were charged with murder. The convicted persons are; V V Sudhakaran, Jayesh, C P Ranjith, P P Ajindran, T V Bhaskaran, I V Anil, V V Srikanth, V V Sreejith and P P Rajesh. The third accused in the case, Ajesh, passed away before the completion of the trial.
Rijith was hacked to death near Thachankandi temple on October 3, 2005. The murder took place following a dispute over running an RSS Shakha. The murdered CPM activist was a member of the Kannapuram party branch and also worked in the youth wing DYFI.
Rijith and his friends, who were returning from work, were attacked near the temple. Three people were injured in the attack.
Rijith’s mother Janaki said the family was relieved at the court verdict though they expected capital punishment for the accused who had carried out such a heinous crime. “No political party should take weapons and murder their rivals. Let this verdict be a lesson to all political parties and leaders. I am not happy because I will not get back my son. We have suffered a lot during the last 19 years. Rijith’s father passed away two years ago,” she said.
