Kannur: The CPM on Saturday expelled four members accused of killing Youth Congress leader S.P. Shuhaib, almost a month after the dastardly act and within days of the High Court entrusting the ‘botched’ probe to the CBI. The expelled members are Akash Thillankery, T.P. Askar, K. Akhil and C.S. Deepchand and the punishment was for "working against the interests of the party."
Akash is the prime accused, whereas Deep, Askar and Akhil are third, fourth and fifth respectively. All of them had primary membership in the party. Of the four, Akash, Deepchand and Askar are facing charges of attacking the victim while Akhil was involved in logistics including hiring the vehicle for the killer squad to reach the spot and escape. The expulsion was decided at a meeting attended by top brass including chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan amid reports that the state government was preparing to challenge the single bench verdict.
The CPM which had initially denied any role in the killing would now find it difficult to convince people of the rationale behind the expulsions. Meanwhile, Shuhaib's family said the expulsion was a face-saver by the CPM, fearing public outrage. “The party is trying to protect the real culprits, the ones who plotted the murder. That is why the government is going in for appeal, as never before, against the investigation by the CBI,” said Shuhaib’s sister S.P. Sharmila. The expulsion of party cadre for political killing is a rare event in the history the party in Kannur.
Although P.K. Kunjananthan serving life-term for killing rebel leader T.P. Chandrasekharan, he retains his membership. RMP leader K K Rema told DC that the party action against another convict, K C Ramachandran, was conveyed to him in the jail by none other than Kannur strongman P Jayarajan. Such is the hypocrisy the party practices, she said. Congress leader V.M. Sudheeran, meanwhile, said the expulsions were nothing but eyewash.
“The party has been denying that it was not having any role in the killing. It should openly admit its role in the killing,” he said. Kannur strongman K. Sudhakaran said the CPM had been forced to take action due to relentless pressure from the society following the agitation by the Congress and the UDF. Central Committee members E.P. Jayarajan, P.K. Sreemathy, K.K. Shylaja and state committee member M.V. Govindan. MV Jayarajan presided over the meeting which also elected an 11-member district secretariat unanimously.
