'CPM leaders part of plan to kill rebel Chandrasekharan'

In a huge embarrassment to the Communist Party of India-Marxist, the special investigating team probing the murder of Marxist rebel T P Chandrasekharan has told a local court that party senior leaders were involved in the conspiracy to kill him.

A 'wider conspiracy' had taken place to kill Chandrasekharan, who formed the Revolutionary Marxist Party after quitting the CPI-M, the report, submitted before the judicial first class magistrate Court at Vatakara, about 50 km from Kozhikode on Friday, said.

The SIT submitted the report while seeking extension of police custody of P Mohanan, secretariat member of Kozhikode district CPI-M, in connection with the RMP leader's murder on May 4, regarding which several CPI-M activists have already been arrested.

Mohanan was arrested by SIT on June 29. The court had then remanded him to police custody for seven days.

The SIT sought extension of Mohanan's police custody following which Magistrate M Suhaib remanded him till July 11 for further investigation.

Chandrasekharan was murdered while returning home on his motorcycle at Vallikkode near Vatakara in Kozhikode district, with the issue raising a political storm in the state.

 SIT's submission about senior CPI-M leaders' alleged involvement in the murder has brought more embarrassment to the party after its senior functionary M M Mani's controversial speech that the party in Idukki district in the 1980s drew up a list of rivals to be eliminated and killed three of them.