Demands for CBI probe in T P Chandrashekharan murder case rise

KOCHI: CPM’s attempts to wriggle out of the legal entanglements of the T P Chandrashekharan murder case have suffered a setback with senior party member and opposition leader V S Achuthananthan and former Supreme Court of India Justice V R Krishna Iyer joining the rising chorus for a CBI inquiry.

Soon after a special Court in Kozhikode convicted 12 accused and acquitted 24 others last Wednesday, K K Rema, wife of the slain Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) leader, had demanded a CBI probe into the conspiracy angle of the murder, which, she believed, will bring out the involvement of top leaders of CPI(M) in the case.

Now, veteran CPI(M) leader and former chief minister Achuthanandan and Justice Iyer have endorsed her demand, causing embarrassment to the Kerala unit of the Left party.

Chandrashekharan, who broke away from CPI(M) to start RMP in 2008, was hacked to death in broad daylight by a group of people in May 2012. On Saturday Justice V R Krishna Iyer also supported Rema’s demand for CBI probe into the conspiracy angle of the murder case. In a letter to Rema, he said that he will fight for justice with her to the end. He also asked her not to sacrifice her life by fasting unto death. Senior Congress leader V M Sudheeran too has supported Rema’s demand.