15 PFI workers get death sentence by Kerala court in local BJP leader murder case

News Network
January 30, 2024

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Alappuzha, Jan 30: A Kerala court on Tuesday, January 30, sentenced to death 15 persons associated with the now-banned Popular Front of India (PFI) in connection with the murder of BJP’s OBC wing local leader Ranjith Sreenivasan in this district in 2021, the special prosecutor of the case said here.

The sentence was pronounced by Mavelikkara Additional District Judge V G Sreedevi.

The family of the slain leader and the BJP welcomed the judgement, with the saffron party hailing Sreenivasan as a "great martyr" who got justice today.

Responding to the court verdict, BJP state president K Surendran said the deceased Sreenivasan "got justice."

"Finally truth prevails— Ranjith Sreenivasan, the great martyr got justice today...we are happy with the judgement," and welcome it wholeheartedly, he added.

According to special prosecutor Prathap G Padickal, although 14 out of the total of 15 persons convicted in the case were produced before the court on Tuesday, the judge orally stated that the sentence would also apply to the convict who was not produced today.

When the remaining convict, who is currently hospitalised due to an illness, is produced in court, the sentence against him will be pronounced, he said.

The court had convicted the 15 men on January 20.

Reacting to the verdict, the family of Sreenivasan said they were satisfied with it.

"This was an exceptionally rare case, and our loss is immense. We express our gratitude to the prosecution and investigating officers for conducting a thorough and honest investigation into the incident, ultimately resulting in the imposition of the maximum punishment," Sreenivasan's wife told reporters.

The prosecution had sought the maximum sentence for the convicts, saying they were a "trained killer squad" and the cruel and diabolical manner in which the victim was killed in front of his mother, infant, and wife brings it within the ambit of the "rarest of the rarest" of crimes.

Sreenivasan, the BJP OBC Morcha state secretary, was brutally attacked and killed in his home on December 19, 2021, in front of his family, by activists affiliated with PFI and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), according to the police. 

According to the prosecutor, the court found that out of the 15, accused one to eight were directly involved in the case.

It also found four men (Accused number nine to 12) guilty of murder because they, along with those directly involved in the crime, came to the spot armed with deadly weapons.

Their objective was to prevent Sreenivasan from escaping and stop anyone entering the house after hearing his screams.

The court had accepted the prosecution's argument that they were also liable for the common offense of murder under IPC Section 149 (Every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), Padickal said.

The court found three persons (Accused number 13 to 15) who hatched the conspiracy for this crime to be convicted of murder.

As a result, the court had found all the 15 accused in the case guilty of murder.

They were also found guilty under various other sections of the Indian Penal Code.

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News Network
November 22,2025

Mangaluru: Police Commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy C H has warned of strict action against individuals spreading rumours and attempting to create insecurity within the Muslim community and fuel hatred between Hindus and Muslims through social media.

Referring to a recent social media post alleging that police personnel had entered a masjid premises to check whether beef was being cooked, the commissioner said miscreants were attempting to push their communal agenda. 

“A group of people, both from Mangaluru and abroad, are trying hard to spread rumours. For the past 10 days, they have been attempting to rake up old issues, highlight routine matters as controversies, or fabricate news altogether,” he said.

He reiterated that any such attempts to disturb communal harmony would invite legal action. “Cases will be registered and the accused will be brought to book,” he stated.

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News Network
November 24,2025

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Israeli forces have pushed over the Syrian frontier, erecting a checkpoint and stopping vehicles in the southwestern city of Quneitra, in yet another breach of the Arab country’s sovereignty.

The violation took place on Sunday, when the troops made their way across the border, setting up the outpost near the Ain al-Bayda junction in northern Quneitra, Syrian outlets reported.

According to the al-Ikhbariya paper, an Israeli detachment positioned itself at the junction, halting cars and conducting searches.

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that three Israeli military vehicles then moved further into the northern countryside, deploying between the town of Jubata al-Khashab and the villages of Ofaniya and Ain al-Bayda. The agency added that a separate Israeli unit mounted a new incursion in the central region, approaching the villages of Umm Batina and al-Ajraf.

Residents said such activities have surged in recent months, pointing to Israeli advances onto farmland, leveling of extensive forested areas, arrests, and spread of mobile checkpoints.

The Israeli regime began markedly increasing its military aggression against Syria last year.

The escalation coincided with increasingly ferocious onslaughts throughout the country by the so-called Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Takfiri terrorist group, which the government of President Bashar al-Assad had confined to northwestern Syria. The HTS, however, managed to overthrow the government as the Israeli attacks would pummel the country’s civilian and defensive infrastructure.

Various reports have shown that, during the escalation, the regime conducted more than 1,000 airstrikes on the Syrian territory and over 400 ground raids into the south.

Following the collapse of the Assad government, Tel Aviv also widened its grip over the occupied Golan Heights by taking control of a demilitarized buffer zone, in defiance of a 1974 Disengagement Agreement. Earlier this month, senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visited the buffer zone, prompting expressions of alarm on the part of the United Nations.

The United States, the regime’s biggest ally, has, meanwhile, been fraternizing the HTS head Abu Mohammed al-Jolani amid the widely reported prospect of rapprochement with Tel Aviv.

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News Network
November 22,2025

The Karnataka government has announced a 50% rebate on pending traffic and transport fines. The discount is available from November 21 to December 12.

The rebate applies to all traffic e-challans and violation cases booked by the RTO between 1991–92 and 2019–20. Officials clarified that the offer is not applicable to pending tax dues and is restricted only to traffic-violation fines.

Across Karnataka, more than 4 lakh RTO cases remain pending, including those involving transport vehicles. While thousands of vehicle owners have already cleared their dues, the department expects to generate substantial revenue through this limited-period rebate.

How to Pay and Avail the Discount

There are three ways to check and pay your pending fines:

1. Through Mobile Apps
Available on both Play Store and App Store:
•    Karnataka State Police (KSP) app
•    KarnatakaOne app
•    ASTraM app

Steps:
•    Enter your vehicle number in any of the above apps
•    Verify the photo/details of your vehicle
•    Pay the fine with the 50% discount applied

2. Visit a Traffic Police Station

You can pay your pending fine at any nearby traffic police station.

3. Visit the Traffic Management Centre (TMC)

•    Location: First Floor, Infantry Road, near Indian Express, Bengaluru

Transport Commissioner Yogeesh A M said, “We don't issue e-challans, so there's no online payment system.”

The department estimates ₹52 crore in pending RTO fines up to March 2020. “With the 50% rebate, we expect to collect around ₹25 crore if all dues are cleared,” he added.

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