In a historic judgment, a Kerala court has handed down death sentences to 15 individuals convicted in the murder case of BJP leader and lawyer Ranjith Sreenivasan, marking a significant development in the legal landscape of the state. This verdict, delivered by the Additional Sessions Court Mavelikara on January 20, is unprecedented in Kerala, representing the first instance of 15 individuals being sentenced to death in a single case.
The court, during the sentencing, established that the murder charges were proven against the initial eight accused, while the remaining individuals were found guilty of criminal conspiracy. The convicts, associated with PFI-SDPI, include Nizam, Ajmal, Anoop, Md Aslam, Salam, Abdul Kalam, Safaruddin, Munshad, Jazeeb, Navaz, Shemir, Nazeer, Zakir Hussain, Shaji, and Shamnaz. The brutal killing of Advocate Ranjith Sreenivasan, the BJP OBC Morcha leader, occurred on the morning of December 19, 2021, in Alappuzha, in front of his family members, shortly after the murder of SDPI worker KS Shan.