Thiruvananthapuram: Decades before he became Kerala’s Chief Minister and one of India’s most respected Left leaders, V S Achuthanandan narrowly escaped death in one of the most harrowing episodes of post-Independence political resistance. In a twist of fate, it was Kolappan, a petty thief in police custody, who ensured his survival.

As recalled in Deshabhimani, the CPM mouthpiece, the incident dates back to 1946, in the aftermath of the Punnapra-Vayalar uprising—a fiery rebellion against the then Travancore Diwan, Sir C P Ramaswamy Iyer, who was accused of brutal suppression of the people's movement.

Following orders from the undivided Communist Party, Achuthanandan had gone underground to evade arrest. But eventually, he was located in a hideout in Poonjar of Kottayam, reportedly betrayed by local rivals, and taken into custody at the Pala police station.

What followed was nothing short of inhuman.

Brutally interrogated by a notorious police officer, Achuthanandan was asked to reveal the whereabouts of senior Communist leaders like E M S Namboodiripad and P Krishna Pillai. However, he refused. Enraged, the police beat his legs with lathis, tied his hands and finally stabbed him in the thigh with a bayonet. Severely wounded and bleeding, he lost consciousness.

Assuming he had died, the police hatched a plan to secretly dispose of his body. As there was no official record of his arrest, they thought it could be covered up. His unconscious body was wrapped in his mundu and shoved under the seat of a police jeep.

Also in custody at the time was Kolappan, a petty thief, who was forced to accompany the police as they set out to bury the body.

But en route to the forest, Kolappan noticed something — Achuthanandan was still breathing.

Kolappan immediately alerted the officers, pointing out that the man they believed to be dead was in fact alive. He suggested they leave him at any hospital. The police then left him at the Pala Government Hospital, where he regained consciousness and slowly recovered over the following weeks.

Achuthanandan was later rearrested in connection with another political case and lodged in the Alappuzha sub-jail, eventually ending up in Poojappura Central Jail in Thiruvananthapuram, where he was recorded as prisoner number 8957. He was released in 1949.

The ordeal left lasting scars—both physical and emotional. But it also became a defining chapter in the life of a man who would go on to lead Kerala with integrity and courage.

V S Achuthanandan passed away on Monday at the age of 101, carrying till the very end the memory of a nameless thief whose unexpected act of compassion gave him a second life.