After many years, the second accused was arrested in the Yuva Morcha leader Periyambalam Manikandan (28) murder case. Vadakkekad Police (near Chavakkad, Thrissur) arrested Keezpatt Nasrulla Thangal (44), a native of Chavakkad Puthyangadi. The accused is an activist of the banned organization Popular Front of India (PFI).
On Thursday morning, under the leadership of Vadakkekad SHO R. Binu, the police arrested him from Padoor in Thrissur. National Investigation Agency (NIA) officers also interrogated Nasrulla, who was taken to Vadakekkad police station.
Manikandan, who was the Yuva Morcha General Secretary of the Guruvayur constituency, was murdered on 12 June 2004. The case was that the NDF workers killed Manikandan because they grudged Yuva Morcha workers. A PFI terrorist was later convicted for life.
RSS workers thrashed two NDF workers, Rajeeb and Lirar, for infiltrating the RSS camp at Peramangalam and trying to collect intelligence. Manikandan was killed because of this hostility.
Manikandan was speaking to his friend near Periyambalam Yatheem Khana (Muslim Orphanage) Road. The first accused, Khalil, and the second accused, Nasrulla, came on a motorcycle, stabbed Manikandan with a knife and slashed him with swords.
When the first witness, Prasad, who was with Manikantan, tried to stop the attack, the accused threatened him with a sword and made him run away. Manikandan was seriously injured and brought to the hospital, where he was declared dead.
The trial in the case started in January 2014. After the defendants’ extremist Islamist supporters threatened to kill the eyewitness in the courtroom, heavy security was provided for the witnesses during the trial. Many witnesses did not come to the court.
Manikandan’s brother, P.V. Raju, demanded a retrial, and the Additional Sessions Judge ordered a further investigation. Based on Raju’s petition, the Kunnamkulam ACP T.S. Sinoj led the further investigation.
Nasrulla, the accused, absconded in 2019 during the Manikandan murder case trial. The accused was produced in court and remanded. The police are trying to find the people who helped him to stay in hiding.
In March 2021, the Thrissur Sessions court sentenced Pananthara Valiyakath Khalil, the main accused, to life imprisonment in the Manikandan murder case. The conviction came 17 years after the incident. There were nine accused.
Seven of them were acquitted. The other accused were NDF workers Shameer, Abdul Majeed, Jafar, Rajeeb, and Rafiq Majeed. We waited for 17 years for the trial, said Raju. But the acquittal of 7 people in the case is disappointing. The case was conducted with the help of the party (BJP), locals and friends. The legal battle will continue, he added.
The first accused and the absconding second accused later became accused in many criminal cases. Nasrulla, who is an accused in the Chavakkad Punna Naushad murder case, is absconding. Money saves them. Raju said that their financial sources should be investigated.
Nasrulla is the 12th accused in the case of the murder of Youth Congress leader Punna Puthuveetil Noushad (44). On 30 July 2019, Noushad was hacked to death in Chavakkad.
A 15-member gang on seven bikes wearing masks hacked Congress workers with machetes at Punna Center in Chavakkad. Police said that SDPI-PFI activists were behind the murder.
The SDPI team, camping on the nearby highway, had received the information that Naushad was spotted alone in Punna. By the time the group arrived with weapons, three other Naushad’s friends had reached the spot. These three were also hacked while trying to stop Naushad from being attacked.
The PFI gang ensured that Naushad did not escape under any circumstances. Naushad’s leg was slashed first to prevent him from running. The terrorists continued to hack and finally cut his throat, following which Naushad became motionless. The accused escaped through various routes.
Naushad succumbed on the morning of the 31st. All the ten arrested in the case were SDPI and PFI activists. The other three who were injured later recovered in hospital.
The investigating officer of Thrissur City Crime Detachment ACP CD Srinivasan submitted a 500-page charge sheet in the Chavakkad court. The investigation team also submitted around 150 witness statements and scientific evidence.
The PFI was the National Development Front (NDF) at the time of the Manikandan murder. It was an association of Sunni Muslims founded in Kerala in 1994. The original leaders belonged to Indian Mujahideen’s branch, the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
NDF was funded by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Iran. The Thomas P Joseph Commission report found that it was one of the perpetrators of the Kozhikode Marad Hindu massacre and genocide.
