CPI(M) leader and Panur area committee member PK Kunhanandan, who was convicted in the murder of Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) leader TP Chadrasekharan, died in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday after a prolonged illness. He was 73.
Kunhanandan was undergoing treatment for nearly a year at the Government Medical College Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram, where he passed away, hospital sources said.
Kunhanandan was the 13th accused in the case relating to the brutal killing of TP Chandrasekharan in May 2012. TP Chandrasekharan had left the CPI(M) to form the RMP in 2009. The murder of TP had jolted the political scenario in Kerala. Kunhanandan was convicted in the case on charges of criminal conspiracy and murder. He was sentenced for life imprisonment in January 2014.
Though convicted in the murder case, CPI(M) had always maintained that Kunhanandan was being trapped in the case.
According to reports, Kunhanandan had served as the local secretary of CPI(M) at Kunnothuparambu in Kannur for about 15 years. Born in 1948, he joined the CPI(M) in 1970.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condoled his death and said Kunhanandan was a committed party worker.
“He was a comrade who loved the party and cared for party workers and the public. As a social worker, he was recognised by the public and was respected by people from different walks of life in Panur,” said Pinarayi Vijayan in his Facebook post.
Meanwhile, condoling his death, CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, retrieved that he was the victim of ‘state terror’ of the UDF regime.
“He was being trapped in the case. He had fought many challenges to build the party in Panur. He was well-liked, even by political rivals. The UDF government was trapping such a leader in the case,” said Kodiyeri.
Even after the conviction, Kunhanandan had hit the news since he was granted a total of over 400 days of parole, as per the data till February 2019. TP Chandrasekaran’s wife KK Rema had moved the court stating that long parole was granted due to political grounds, but the state government had denied it.
(With inputs from PTI)