Bomb attack on cops: Kerala court sentences two CPM workers to 20-year jail term

The Additional Sessions Court, Taliparamba sentenced two CPM workers, including a candidate for the local body polls, to 20 years combined in prison on Tuesday in the 2012 case involving a bomb attack on a police vehicle at Payyanur in Kerala’s Kannur.

The court awarded the imprisonment of 20 years and a fine of Rs 2.5 lakh each to the convicts, V K Nishad and T C V Nandakumar. The combined 20-year sentence includes five years under the Explosives Act, 10 years for throwing bombs and five years for the attempt to murder. They will have to serve an additional year in prison if they fail to pay the fine. The sentence will be served by the convicts together for 10 years each.

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Earlier on Monday, the court found Nishad, 35, a CPM candidate in Payyannur municipality, and Nandakumar, 31, guilty of the bomb attack on the police team at Payyannur on August 1, 2012. A Mithun, 36, and K V Kripesh, 38, the co-accused in the crime in the case, were acquitted.

The incident took place on August 1, 2012 during a protest against the arrest of then CPM Kannur district secretary P Jayarajan in connection with the Ariyil Shukkoor murder case.

According to the prosecution, while the police were patrolling, Nishad and three others arrived on a bike. When the police chased them, they allegedly threw a bomb at the police vehicle in which Payyannur SI K P Ramakrishnan and his team were travelling before fleeing the scene.

The police identified Nishad, who was an SFI leader at the time who threw the bomb. However, as the bomb did not go off, a major tragedy was averted. The accused were charged with attempted murder, possession of explosives, and use of explosives.