KASARAGOD: BJP worker and accused in multiple criminal cases, including murder and attempt to murder, Jyotish (35) was found dead, in what appears to be a case of suicide, on Tuesday, said Kasaragod town police.
Many BJP supporters had put Jyotish's photograph as their status on social messaging apps to pay their respects.
A Manjeshwar block panchayat member of the BJP called him a 'roaring Hindu tiger in Kasaragod'. His usefulness to the party could be gauged from the fact that senior BJP leader and ace criminal lawyer P Sreedharan Pillai used to defend him in the trial courts.
Jyotish's family reportedly told police that he could have ended his life because of a financial crunch.
He was found hanging on a tree by his father around 5 am on Tuesday.
He is survived by his wife and three children.
The crimes he was accused of often pushed Kasaragod to the brink of communal violence, said a police officer who tracked his career in crime.
Jyotish was charged with the murder of Muhammed Sinan in 2008 when he was 21 years old. "That was the first major charge against him," said Kasaragod town station house officer Ajith Kumar P.
Sreedharan Pillai, who is now the Governor of Goa, defended him in the case and got his acquittal in 2017.
The court pulled up the police and the then investigating officer K Damodaran for a shoddy investigation in the case.
Muhammed Sinan, a teenager, was stabbed to death on March 16, 2008, in apparent retaliation to the killing of BJP worker B Sandeep two days ago. Police said it was a hate crime and Sinan was not linked to Sandeep's killing.
On February 7, 2010, two brothers Rajesh and Ajith were assaulted with iron rods at Karanthakkad in Kasaragod town. Jyotish was booked for an attempt to murder in the case.
On January 9, 2011, Rishad, a textile shop salesperson, of Battompara was stabbed to death at Choori. Jyotish was named an accused in the murder again.
He was named as an accused in the attempt to murder Ahmed Jabir on September 2, 2011.
The most recent was the murder of SDPI activist Zainul Abid (24) on December 22, 2014.
Abid was closing his mattress shop in Kasaragod's MG Road when a gang barged in and stabbed the youth to death in front of his father. Jyotish was arrested in the case.
Kasaragod collector had invoked the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act or popularly known as Goonda Act against Jyotish to put him away in prisons.
Police officers said political patronage of such criminals kept the communally sensitive district on the edge.
On top of it, shoddy investigations have led to zero convictions in communal and political killings in Kasaragod.
Like in the case of Sinan's murder, all the accused in the murder case of Sandeep were also acquitted.
On December 21, 2008, DYFI leader Abdul Sattar (32) was stabbed to death. All the three accused were acquitted for lack of evidence.
The court also acquitted the accused in the murder of CPM worker C Narayanan who was killed on Onam day on August 23, 2015. The case had an eyewitness.
In May 2019, the sessions court acquitted all the seven accused in the murder case of Sabith (18). Pillai represented the accused in the case.
Most of the accused were residents of JP Colony, where Jyotish lived.