Kerala: 31 Years After Attack On RSS Leader Sadanandan Master, 8 CPI(M) Workers Surrender

Eight CPI(M) workers convicted in the 1994 attack on RSS functionary Sadanandan Master surrendered before a sessions court in Thalassery, Kannur, on Monday (5 August), over three decades after the incident.

On 25 January 1994, Sadanandan, then the RSS saha karyavah of Kannur district and a school teacher, was attacked in his hometown of Mattannur, resulting in the loss of both his legs.

He is now the Kerala BJP’s vice-president and was nominated to the Rajya Sabha last month.

The eight men were sentenced to seven years in prison by a court in Kannur in 1997. They later challenged the verdict in the Kerala High Court, which in January 2025 upheld the conviction.

The High Court observed that the attack was not impulsive but “premeditated,” adding, “The incident did not happen in a fit of rage/anger or on a sudden provocation.”

It also ruled out any “leniency in the light of the overt acts committed by them” and enhanced the compensation, ordering each to pay Rs 50,000.

The accused then approached the Supreme Court, which refused to admit the appeal. Following that, the High Court cancelled their bail and ordered them to surrender by 4 August.

Of the 12 people originally charged, only eight were convicted; the rest were acquitted as the conspiracy charges could not be proven.

The case was among the few involving political violence in Kannur where charges under the now-defunct Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA), 1987, were initially invoked, though later dropped.

As the convicts left to surrender, CPI(M) leaders reportedly held a farewell for them.

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