CPM in fix over revelations of party list' of murder-accused

KOZHIKODE: The CPM is in a fix over the revelations that the party had submitted a list of the accused to the police in the political murder cases in Malabar.

The exposure made by the former accused in the Payyoli C.T. Manoj murder case sheds light on the CPM strategy of ‘fixing’ the accused and later making them scapegoats.  Some  former CPM local leaders told DC about  their plight and  how they were continuously targeted. Many lived incognito  fleeing from one place to another in constant fear.

Vadakkel Biju, former Payyoli local committee member, who runs a  shop in his native place, said  he had lost his job at Payyoli Service Cooperative Bank once he came out in the open claiming innocence and expressing readiness to  undergo a polygraph test along with five others, who were listed as accused by the local police. “There were no  factional feuds at the local level of the party, but there were issues regarding corruption, reclamation of paddy fields and other mafia linkages. We opposed  the anti-people policies, which irked a section of the local CPM leadership.  The police also admitted during the interrogation that the arrests were made based on the ‘list’ given by the party,” said  Biju.

Ajith,  another victim of the ‘list,’ told this newspaper that even five years after acquitting them, he was  not able to reveal his identity at the workplace and could not lead a normal life. “We had been with the party throughout sacrificing our youthful years. But the betrayal was shocking  and  even the leaders later tried to convince our families that we were the real culprits. I feel we wasted our life for believing in an ideology,” Ajith said and added  that  they were  not leaving the party. 

“But it is an eye-opener that when we were trapped five years ago, the party did not observe any hartal or register any protest. And now  the real culprits  in the party are  protesting alleging a conspiracy behind the arrest,”  Ajith added.

Both of them believe that there was an  unholy nexus between  the CPM and the BJP at the local level leading to ‘settling’ the case with a fake list. They also pointed out how even the late Manoj’s family was convinced to believe  in the investigation by the Crime Branch and oppose a CBI investigation.

In the light of the new arrests and the findings of the CBI, the police officials who earlier investigated the case also are answerable. 

Nine people, including CPM leaders,  were arrested by the CBI in the Payyoli Manoj murder case. They are  CPM former area secretary T. Chandu, local secretary P.V. Ramachandran, local committee member and Payyoli councillor K.T. Likhesh, area committee member C. Suresh, DYFI leader N.C. Musthafa, Ayanikkad south branch former secretary C.K. Kumaran, Muchukunnu natives Anoop, Arun Nath and Ratheesh. The arrests were made by  the Kochi unit of the CBI. 

Manoj, a BMS leader,  who was attacked  at his house on February 12, 2012,  succumbed to his injuries at the medical college hospital the next day.