Cashew corp chief held in murder case

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CBI team probing the murder of Congress activist Ramabhadran arrested CPM leader and Cashew Development Corporation chairman S Jayamohan on Wednesday. The arrest was recorded after summoning him to the CBI headquarters here for questioning. Besides Jayamohan, another CPM activist, Roy Kutty, was also arrested on Wednesday.
Jayamohan and Roy Kutty were later let out on bail.They have been charged of harbouring the accused.
Anchal area secretary of CPM, P S Suman, who has been absconding in the case was directed by the CBI officers to cooperate with the probe.
Ramabhadran of Anchal in Kollam was an INTUC leader and Eroor Mandalam president of Congress. He was allegedly murdered by CPM activists in front of his wife Bindhu and two daughters on April 10, 2010.
A day ago, the CBI had arrested three men—CPM Kollam district committee member Babu Panikkar, fisheries minister J Mercykutty Amma’s personal staff and DYFI activist Maxin and another party member, Riyas.
On Wednesday, the CBI produced them before the chief judicial magistrate court here. The magistrate has sent them to judicial custody till December 6. The CBI will file an application seeking the custody of the accused on Thursday. The magistrate will also hear the bail pleas of the accused on Thursday. The defence counsel argued that the CBI has indicted CPM leaders, who were initially not in the accused list when the local police and the Crime Branch probed the case as part of a political conspiracy to put the CPM led government on backfoot.
While Babu Panikkar has been charged with conspiracy, Maxon and Riyas were charged for actively participating in the crime, hacking Ramabhadran to death.
The CBI took over the probe in 2015, following a high court order. Initially, the case was probed by the local police and then the Crime Branch. However, Ramabhadran’s widow Bindhu sought a CBI probe. Though the previous UDF government issued a notification to hand over the case to CBI, the agency refused to take up the case. HC Justice B Kemal Pasha ordered the agency to take up the probe after Bindhu later approached the court.