Kerala CPM Leader Sentenced To 20 Years Imprisonment For Hurling Bomb At Police

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Taliparamba Additional District Sessions Court on Tuesday convicted and sentenced a CPM candidate who is in the fray for Payyannur municipal elections, to 20 years in prison on the charges of throwing a bomb at a police team twelve years ago. With this conviction, the CPM leader faces disqualification from office if he wins the elections.

V K Nishad, 35, the CPM’s candidate from Mattammal, and his close aide T C V Nandakumar, 31 were sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and slapped with a fine of Rs 2.5 lakh each. As the sentences will run concurrently, both will effectively serve 10 years in prison.

Nishad stands automatically disqualified under Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which bars anyone sentenced to more than two years in prison from holding elected office for the duration of the sentence plus an additional six years after release.

Bomb incident

The incident occurred on August 1, 2012, when the CPM called a state-wide protest against the arrest of then CPM district secretary P Jayarajan in connection with the Ariyil Shukoor murder case. According to the prosecution, DYFI workers Nishad and Nandakumar, along with two others, A Mithun and K V Kripesh, arrived on two motorcycles in Payyannur and hurled a country-made steel bomb at a police jeep.

The bombs did not explode, and the police placed them in a bucket and covered them with sand. Public Prosecutor U Rameshan stated that, had the bombs exploded, the accused could have faced life imprisonment.

The attack happened as the police were returning from investigating reports of a CPM workers’ assault on a Youth Congress worker. Mithun and Kripesh were acquitted due to insufficient evidence.