KANNUR: The Thalassery Sessions Court has found nine persons, including CPM leaders and activists, guilty of murdering BJP worker Elambilayi Sooraj of Muzhappilangad. The murder which occurred on August 7, 2005, was triggered by political enmity after Suraj left the CPM to join BJP.
According to the Special Prosecutor, P Premarajan, the accused first hurled a bomb at Suraj before hacking him to death with an axe and machetes. Among those convicted are Manoraj Narayanan, brother of the Chief Minister’s Press Secretary P M Manoj, and T K Rajeesh, an accused in the T P Chandrasekharan murder case.
Suraj was previously attacked by CPM activists six months before the fatal attack in August. That assault left him with a serious leg injury, confining him to bed rest for months.
Upon his recovery and discharge from medical care, he was attacked again and killed. The investigation initially named ten individuals, but following a confession from T K Rajeesh—who was arrested in the TP case—two more suspects were added. One of them was Manoraj Narayanan. However, two of the accused, first accused P K Shamsuddin and twelfth accused T P Raveendran, died during the proceedings, bringing the total number of accused back to ten.
The convicted persons are T K Rajeesh, 45, E V Yogesh, 45, K Shamjith, 48, Neyyoth Sajeevan, 56, Prabhakaran, 65, K V Padmanabhan, 67, Radhakrishnan, 60, Nagathankota Prakashan, 56, and Puthiapurayil Pradeepan, 59.
The tenth accused, Nagathankota Prakashan, was acquitted after a key witness turned hostile.
The police had charged the individuals under multiple sections, including conspiracy and murder. Sessions judge K T Nisar Ahammed will pronounce the sentence on Monday.