ALAPPUZHA: A Kerala court on Tuesday sentenced to death 15 persons associated with the now-banned Islamist outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) in connection with the murder of BJP OBC wing leader Ranjith Sreenivasan in this district in 2021, the special prosecutor of the case said here. The sentence was pronounced by Mavelikkara Additional District Judge V G Sreedevi.
The family of the slain leader and the BJP welcomed the judgement, with the saffron party hailing Sreenivasan as a “great martyr” who got justice today. According to special prosecutor Prathap G Padickal, although 14 out of the total of 15 persons convicted in the case were produced before the court on Tuesday, the judge orally stated that the sentence would also apply to the convict who was not produced today.
When the remaining convict, who is currently hospitalised due to an illness, is produced in court, the sentence against him will be pronounced, he said. The court had convicted the 15 men on January 20.
Reacting to the verdict, the family of Sreenivasan said they were satisfied with it. Responding to the court verdict, BJP state president K Surendran said the deceased Sreenivasan “got justice.” Sreenivasan, the BJP OBC Morcha state secretary, was brutally attacked and killed in his home on December 19, 2021, in front of his family, by activists affiliated with PFI and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI).