Kerala court sentences 15 PFI members to death in BJP leader's murder case

• Kerala court awards death sentence to 15 PFI members in the 2021 murder case of BJP leader Ranjith Sreenivasan
• Convicts, associated with the now-banned PFI and its political arm SDPI, were previously convicted on January 20
• Court cites the brutal nature of the murder and the accused being a "trained killer squad" as factors justifying the death penalty

In a significant development, a Kerala court has sentenced 15 members of the Popular Front of India (PFI) to death in connection with the 2021 murder of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) OBC leader Ranjith Sreenivasan. The court's decision comes after all 15 accused, affiliated with the now-banned extremist group PFI and its political arm SDPI, were convicted on January 20. Mavelikkara additional district judge V G Sreedevi pronounced the death sentence, highlighting the prosecution's assertion that the convicts constituted a "trained killer squad" involved in a crime deemed as "rarest of the rare."

The brutal murder of Sreenivasan, the state secretary of the BJP OBC Morcha, occurred on December 19, 2021, when a 12-member gang attacked him at his home in Alappuzha town. The prosecution argued for the maximum sentence, citing the heinous manner in which the crime was committed in front of the victim's mother, wife, and infant. The court's decision reflects the gravity of the case and the accused individuals' involvement in the murder.