T.K. Rajeesh, 38, the prime accused in the murder of Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) leader T.P. Chandrasekharan, has confessed to his involvement in the crime, according to highly places police sources.
Amid tight security, he was produced before the Vadakara Judicial First Class Magistrate Court here on Friday. Magistrate M. Suhaib remanded him in judicial custody for 14 days.
Rajeesh confessed to the interrogators that he had planned and carried out the murder as per the instructions of P.K. Kunhanandan, a member of the Panur area committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI-M], two months ago. Kunhanandan, who is now at large, had called him on his landline phone in Mumbai, to plan and execute the murder of Chandrasekharan, whose RMP had become a force to reckon with at Onchiyam region. He had then worked out the plot with another hit squad led by N.K. Sunil Kumar alias Kodi Suni, to eliminate Chandrasekharan. He was joined by two others, Kirmani Manoj and M.C. Anoop, to chalk out the plan.
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The gang had rented a Toyota Innova multi-utility vehicle to carry out the murder at 10.15 p.m. He fled to Koothuparamba, stayed in Mysore, and then moved to Mumbai. He shifted to Sawantwadi in Sangeli, Maharashtra, when the investigation team reached Mumbai. Incidentally, he was involved in an abortive attempt to kill Chandrasekharan two years ago.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) had arrested him on Thursday on the charge of executing the plot to kill Chandrasekharan at Vallikkad on May 4. Rajeesh, who led the seven-member hired gang, was picked up from his hideout in a remote village at Sateli-Bhedshi in Sindhudurg district, almost 400 km from Mumbai, on Tuesday morning.
The SIT team, led by Additional Director-General of Police (Crimes) Vinson M. Paul, also moved a petition before the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Court for conducting an identification parade test of the accused.
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CJM K. Ramesh Bhai directed Kozhikode Judicial First Class Magistrate P.T. Prakashan to carry out an identification parade after sending summons to the witnesses. The identification parade test of the accused will be conducted under judicial custody to avoid any criticism against the investigation team.
The SIT will move a petition via assistant public prosecutor M. Udaya seeking the accused in their custody for further questioning after the identification parade test.
Investigators said that Rajeesh was involved in at least five murder cases, including the killing of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha K.T. Jayakrishnan on December 1, 1999. However, these cases were being looked separately.