The framing of criminal conspiracy charge against Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] district secretary P. Jayarajan and party MLA T.V. Rajesh by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the politically sensitive murder case of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) worker Abdul Shukkoor has given a new impetus to the political activism in Kannur ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
The implication of the timing is not lost on the parties, including the CPI(M), as the trial process is to start in a couple of days. Though the criminal conspiracy charge against the two CPI(M) leaders is viewed as a fresh blow to the CPI(M), the party is apparently seeking to use the new development as grist to its political mill with a narrative of victimisation. “The supplementary chargesheet is the latest example of the misuse of the CBI for witchhunting political rivals,” said the CPI(M) district secretariat in a statement.
It said the CBI framed criminal conspiracy charges against Mr. Jayarajan and Mr. Rajesh by using the disclosures of two IUML workers as witnesses who, it said, had already denied having overheard the alleged hatching of the murder conspiracy at the hospital at Taliparamba where the two leaders had been admitted following an alleged attack on them by IUML workers at Ariyil earlier on the day of murder. The Communist Party of India (CPI) leadership here, which usually refrains from taking partisan stand on issues relating to political violence in the district, is quick to come to the defence of Mr. Jayarajan and Mr. Rajesh with the same narrative.