A CBI court in Kochi on Thursday issued a directive prohibiting the media from publishing witness statements in the 2019 Periya twin murder case.
CBI Special Judge K. Kamanees has barred media from entering the courtroom to report on the case, but statements of government officials named as witnesses in the case have been excluded and can be reported.
In order to prevent witnesses in this extremely sensitive political case from being coerced, the prosecution requested that the media be barred from the courtroom during the trial.
However, the court determined that publishing the references made by the witnesses during the trial would be against the interests of justice and chose not to address the charges of threats against the witnesses.
What is the Periya Twin Murder Case?
On February 17,2019, two Youth Congress activists, Kripesh (age 19) and Sharath Lal (aged 24) , were hacked to death allegedly by CPI(M) activist at Periya in Kasaragod district while returning from an event.
Sharath Lal succumbed to his injuries while on the way to the hospital while Kripesh passed away at the Kasaragod district hospital.
On December 14, 2020, the CBI recreated the crime scene at Kalliyot to begin the investigation. There are a total of 24 accused, including CPIM leader and former MLA KV Kunhiraman and CPIM leader and Kanhangad block panchayat president K Manikandan
