15 PFI activists sentenced to death for killing BJP leader
What's the story
A local court in Kerala on Tuesday handed down death sentences to 15 people linked to the now-banned outfit Popular Front of India (PFI).
They were convicted for the murder of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s leader, Ranjith Sreenivasan, in Alappuzha district in December 2021.
The quantum of punishment will be pronounced by the court later.
Punishment
BJP leader's killing 'rarest of rare' crime
The sentence was pronounced by Mavelikkara Additional District Judge VG Sreedevi.
The prosecution has sought maximum sentence for the convicts, describing them as a "trained killer squad."
The court also detailed the brutal and heinous nature of the crime, where the victim was murdered in front of his mother, wife, and infant.
The judge qualified it as a "rarest of the rare" crime.
Verdict
8 PFI men directly involved in crime: Court
On January 20, the court found that eight out of the 15 convicts in the case were directly involved in the crime.
Four of them came armed to kill Sreenivasan, the court said.
Their goal was to keep him from fleeing and prevent anyone from entering his residence after hearing his screams, it observed.
The court also convicted three people of planning his assassination.
2021 murder
BJP leader killed in his home
Sreenivasan was brutally attacked and killed in his home on December 19, 2021, allegedly by activists affiliated with PFI and the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI).
He was the BJP's Other Backward Class (OBC) Morcha state secretary.
His murder took place hours after SDPI leader KS Shan was killed by a gang on December 18, 2021, while on his way home in Alappuzha.
Banned in 2022
What is PFI?
The PFI is an extremist group created by members of the banned terrorist organization Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
Ir was banned on September 28, 2022, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had earlier said that the PFI trains people to commit terrorist activities and causes communal divides.