Idukki District Congress Committee (DCC) president C.P. Mathew announced on Monday that the Congress party will demand a fresh probe into the murder of Students’ Federation of India (SFI) activist Dheeraj Rajendran.

Speaking to the media in Idukki, Mr. Mathew defended his decision to nominate the prime accused in the case, Nikhil Paily, to the DCC, stating that he believes Mr. Paily is innocent.

“Our internal probe found that those included in the accused list for the murder case are innocent. The Congress district committee will demand a fresh probe into the incident,” Mr. Mathew said.

He asserted that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] has no right to criticise Mr. Paily’s nomination. “The DCC is aware of who it can nominate, and there is no need for advice from the CPI(M) on this. The CPI(M) has previously fielded murder accused in elections and selected them as people’s representatives,” he said.

The DCC president’s announcement indicates a push for a new investigation, an angle the party’s State leadership has occasionally echoed by maintaining the innocence of its members.

Dheeraj was stabbed to death at the Government Engineering College in Painavu, Idukki, on January 10, 2022. He was killed, and two other students—Thrissur native Abhijith T. Sunil and Kollam resident A.S. Amal—were injured during a clash related to college union elections. In April 2022, the Idukki DSP submitted a 600-page chargesheet to the court naming KSU-Youth Congress activists as the accused, with Mr. Paily identified as the prime accused.

Dissenting voices

While Mr. Mathew continues to defend Mr. Paily’s nomination, the Congress district leadership is openly divided over the move. According to local party sources, several leaders strongly oppose his decisions and have already approached the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) and All India Congress Committee (AICC) seeking Mr. Mathew’s removal from the post of DCC president.

Underscoring this rift, a senior Congress leader stated that the party leadership has not yet formally discussed demanding a fresh probe into the murder. “The statements were made by Mathew alone, and he is solely responsible for them,” the leader said.