Thiruvananthapuram, March 24 : The prisons department’s reply to an RTI query filed by an online news portal has revealed that names of hard-core criminals had found their way into the list submitted by the LDF government to the governor for the remission of a prison sentence.
The names on the remission list include the eleven persons convicted for the murder of RMP leader T P Chandrasekharan and controversial beedi tycoon Mohammed Nisham, who murdered a security guard at his plush apartment by ramming him with his luxury car.
The RTI reply reveals that a list containing the names of 1,911 convicts prepared by the prisons department was forwarded to the government for special remission on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Kerala's formation.
Governor P Sasthasivam had returned the list submitted by the state government.
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had then assured the opposition, which had raised a hue and cry over the list, that hard-core criminals did not figure among the names proposed for remission of sentence.
However, the RTI response provided by the prisons department has given the lie to Pinarayi’s claims and given fresh ammunition to the opposition to accuse the government of paving the way for the release of hardened criminals.
Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala slammed the LDF government accusing it of trying to set free criminals at a time when the state’s law and order situation was in a shambles.
Former home minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan told reporters on Thursday that he would approach the court against the LDF government if it went ahead with the decision to remit sentence of those convicted for grave offences.
RMP leader and T P Chandrasekharan’s widow K K Rema alleged that the move to ‘release’ convicts in the Chandrasekharan murder case was but quid pro quo for the gruesome murder.
The list was proof that the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government was aligned with criminals and mafias, she said, adding that if the LDF government pressed ahead with the decision to set free criminals she would stage a protest in front of the chief minister’s residence.
However, with the issue snowballing into a controversy, additional secretary (Home) Sheela Rani came out with the clarification that the government had vetted the list forwarded by the prisons department and had removed the names of the TP murder convicts and beedi tycoon Mohammed Nisham from the list before submitting it to the governor.
