NDF activist sentenced to life in RSS leader’s murder case

Ashwini Kumar was stabbed multiple times while he was travelling on bus in March 2005. Initially 14 persons were charged with the murder. The court acquitted the other 13.

The Thalassery District Sessions Court sentenced M.V. Marshook, an activist of the proscribed National Development Front (NDF) and the third accused in the murder case of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Ashwini Kumar, to life imprisonment on Monday.

The court found Marshook, aged 39, guilty of that murder that was committed on March 10, 2005. The verdict was delivered by Judge Philip Thomas, who ruled that Marshook was culpable of premeditated murder.

Ashwini Kumar, 27, who was the Kannur district Boudhik Shikshan Pramukh of the RSS and a district-level convener of the Hindu Aikyavedi, was travelling on a bus from Kannur to Peravoor, when he came under attack. The assailants, who were reportedly in a jeep, intercepted the bus and used explosives to create panic among passengers before stabbing him multiple times.

To go in appeal

The murder shocked the local community as Ashwini Kumar was a teacher in a parallel college and a spiritual speaker. Initially, 14 persons, all reportedly affiliated with the NDF, were charged in the case. However, due to lack of evidence, the court acquitted the other 13 accused. The prosecution, expressing dissatisfaction with the outcome, said it would appeal against the verdict.

The trial began in 2018, more than a decade after the crime, following extensive investigation by Crime Branch officers. The charge sheet was formally submitted on July 31, 2009.

Published - November 04, 2024 07:20 pm IST