With the arrest of four Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI9(M)] leaders by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers in Thiruvananthapuram in connection with the April 10, 2010, Yeroor Ramabhadran murder case, a murder that took place more than six-and-a-half years ago has come back to haunt the CPI(M).
It is a case with both personal and political dimensions, but the CPI(M) leadership here strongly feel that the arrests are part of political vendetta by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by using the CBI as a tool. The leaders pointed out that the CBI, which was reluctant to take over the case after a High Court order, has shown sudden interest in the case only because of political reasons, they say.
The CPI(M) leaders feel it is a tit-for-tat operation by the BJP in the wake of the alleged confession made by a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activist to the State police that he along with a group of RSS activists had hacked to death Muhammed Fazal, a National Democratic Front activist, at Thalassery.
According to the CPI(M), Ramabhadran, though a Congress leader in the area, shared cordial relations with the CPI(M). He owned a quarry and was a recognised public works contractor. He was doing several works for the LDF-controlled Yeroor grama panchayat.
The murder, according to them, had more to do with a feud between him and the main accused in the case, Girish Kumar, on the final night’s rituals at a local temple festival. Girish Kumar had moved over to the CPI(M) from Communist Marxist Party (CMP) and was physical trainer to the local DYFI cadres and was allegedly offered protection by the CPI(M) area committee leadership after the murder.
The CBI investigation came about based on the favourable verdict that the Kerala High Court issued on a petition filed by Ramabhran’s wife Bindu seeking a CBI probe alleging that the murder was the result of a larger conspiracy.
