T.P. Chandrasekheran murder case verdict: Prohibitory orders from Monday

Ahead of the verdict in the T.P. Chandrasekheran murder case, Kerala Police have imposed prohibitory orders, starting Monday, in Vadakara and Nadapuram towns, near here.

The special additional sessions court here will pronounce the verdict Jan 22. The prohibitory orders shall remain in force for a week.

Top police officials who met here Friday under additional director general of police N. Shankar Reddy, decided it was necessary to clamp prohibitory orders in the two sensitive towns.

While banning unlawful assembly of people and no display of posters or inflammatory speeches in the two towns, police said strict action would be taken against law-breakers.

Chandrasekheran, 51, who launched the Revolutionary Marxist Party, was hacked 51 times by assailants May 4, 2012 when he was returning home on his motorcycle.

There were 76 persons named in the charge sheet filed by the special investigation team of the police. Among those, two are still absconding while the high court had stayed trial against 15 people.

Twenty-two people were discharged after the trial began, one died during the trial period while the remaining 36 have been arraigned as accused.

A hugely popular leader in and around the Kozhikode district, Chandrasekheran took on his former party CPI-M from which he was ousted in 2008 and flayed their ideological stand, that forced CPI-M state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan publicly declaring Chandrasekheran a "renegade".

Following the murder, the stock of the CPI-M took a downward slide and even today, the party is haunted by the incident.