The trial of 11 Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) workers “for the murder” of a Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] activist in 2008 began at the district court here on Tuesday.
Sixth Additional Sessions Judge T.K. Minimol heard that the RSS men had around 10.15 a.m. on April 1 hacked to death V. Vishnu, a local CPI(M) activist, in front of the Regional Passport Office at Kaithamukku. The hearing in the case has commenced at a time when both the RSS and the CPI(M) in the district have accused each other of wanton post poll violence.
Both the CPI(M) and the RSS apparatchiks were present in strength on the court premises. The police were also on alert given the politically sensitive nature of the trial. The prosecution case was that Vishnu, a trained martial artist and passport agent, was a constant irritant for RSS cadres. He wielded much physical clout in the Vanchiyoor court area and headed a group of committed CPI(M) youth.
Grouse
The police case was that the RSS had long harboured a grouse against Vishnu. It believed that he was responsible for manhandling RSS cadres who arrived in court to appear in politically motivated crime cases.
The RSS also suspected that Vishnu had a hand in attacks on RSS men in the locality since 2001. The police said the assailants held him responsible for the attempt on the life of their “pracharak”, Thirumala Hari.
Sajan Prasad, Special Prosecutor, told the court that the country bomb attack on the RSS office at nearby West Fort was the provocation the suspects could no longer ignore or leave unanswered. The incidents on March 27, 2008, prompted them to plot and execute Vishnu’s murder.
Mr. Prasad produced as prime witness, one Giri Prasad, another passport agent who ran an office adjacent to that of Vishnu. Mr. Prasad identified six RSS men who stood in the dock, as the assailants. He identified their dress and also weapons, in this case machetes, used for the crime.
