Chandy Assures Murdered Politician’s Widow Help in CBI Probe

Kozhikode, Jan 22 (IANS) The widow of a communist leader in Kerala, who was murdered in 2012, claimed on Friday that she has been promised help by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in initiating a CBI probe into the conspiracy behind the killing.

"He has assured me that all steps that the state government needs to take for initiating a CBI probe in the case would be taken. We are happy with his response," said Rema, the widow of T.P. Chandrasekheran who was hacked to death on May 4, 2012, when he was riding home on his motorcycle in his hometown near here.

Rema was speaking to reporters here after meeting Chandy.

Chandrasekharan used to be a CPI-M leader but left the party in 2009 to form a splinter party called Revolutionary Marxist Party.

In the murder case, a court sentenced in January 2014 to life imprisonment 11 people, of whom three were middle-level leaders of the Communist Party of India-Marxist.

The court discharged 24 others who included the present CPI-M Kozhikode district secretary P. Mohanan, whose wife K.K. Lathika is a party legislator.

Rema has long been demanding a CBI probe into the conspiracy angle and has already approached the central government's Department of Personnel and Training with her request.

A CBI investigation into Chandrasekheran's murder would spell fresh trouble for the CPI-M which is facing the heat from the investigating agency on account of another murder case in Kannur district.

On Thursday, the CBI named senior CPI-M leader P. Jayarajan as the 25th accused in the September 2014 murder of RSS worker Kathirur Manoj and his arrest is likely any time now.

Soon after his anticipatory bail was rejected early this week, Jayarajan got admitted to a hospital.

Senior CPI-M leader and former chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan on Friday described the CBI move as an outcome of a conspiracy hatched between the Congress party here and the Bharatiya Janata Party-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh combine.

The two cases have become an irritant for the CPI-M as the state assembly polls are round the corner.