KOCHI: Three years after RSS party worker Elanthottathil Manoj alias Kathiroor Manoj was murdered, the CBI filed supplementary chargesheet against six CPM party workers, including Kannur district decretary P Jayarajan, in its special court in Kochi on Thursday. Jayarajan is one of the first political leaders in Kerala to be charge-sheeted for scheduled offences, under various sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).CBI, in its investigation, found the motive behind the murder was to terrorise people as a large number of party workers had defected from CPM and joined the BJP, and to exact revenge on an attack against Jayarajan in 1999.
CBI has chargesheeted T I Madusudhanan, 51, of Mavicheri, Kannur, the former area secretary of CPM in Payannur; Rijesh alias Riju, 37, of East Kathiroor and close aide of Jayarajan; Mahesh 37, of Kathiroor, who was the cousin of first accused Vikraman; Sunilkumar alias Sunooty, 46, of East Kathiroor; Sajilesh, 29, of Kathiroor and Jayarajan, 62, District Secretary of CPM, residing at Pookoda, near Thalassery. The charges against accused persons were IPC sections -- 120 B, 143, 147, 148, 201, 202, 212, 324, 307, 302 and 149; UAPA Sections- 18, 15(1)(a)(i), 16(a) and 19; Section 3 and 5 of the Explosive Substance Act and Section 27 of the Arms Act.
The CBI had filed chargesheet against 19 persons in the case. Even though Jayarajan was arrested in the case, he was later released on conditional bail. Personal and political enmityCBI, in its supplementary chargesheet, stated the murder of Manoj, executed on September 1, 2014, was a well-conspired, planned and well-organised political one and not an individual instance under sudden provocation. Manoj’s father and family were good acquaintances of Jayarajan and were CPM sympathisers. After his father’s death, Manoj developed acquaintances with RSS members which irked Jayarajan. In 1997, Manoj joined RSS and became a leader, despite several warnings from Jayarajan. Manoj eventually became a political target of Jayarajan and attempts were made to eliminate him twice, in 1997 and 2009. In 1999, Jayarajan was attacked and Manoj was one of the accused in the case.
After the new BJP government came into power in June-July, 2014, considerable migration of CPM workers to the BJP and RSS weakened the party leadership. A programme to welcome around 500 CPM defectors was organised by the BJP in Kannur on August 24, 2014. “At this juncture, Jayarajan wanted to eliminate the upcoming and influential district-level leader of RSS who was a botheration for Jayarajan, personally and politically,” the CBI chargesheet stated.
Execution
With explosives and weapons, Vikraman and 16 others assembled at Paraikavu, the ancestral temple of Jayarajan on August 26, 27 and 29, 2014 to take position and attack Manoj. On August 29, 30 and on September 1, 2014, Vikraman and his gang members changed their place of assembly to Rijesh’s house which was under construction, near Pattuvathu Valavu, Ukka Motta. The accused persons inflicted maximum injuries on the vital parts of Manoj’s body. When the victim was almost dead, Nijith, with a steel dagger, slit Manoj’s throat to ensure no trace of life was left.Pramod, a friend of Manoj who was in the car, attempted to come out, but the accused inflicted injury on him and chased him away.
Harbouring the accused
After the murder, Jayarajan further conspired with his close associate C Prakash, Krishnan Arappayil, Ramachandran, Madhusudhanan and Rijesh for providing treatment to Vikraman, who sustained injuries during a bomb explosion and to harbour him. Vikraman was shifted to the Payannur Cooperative Hospital, controlled by him, on the instruction of Jayarajan, The hospital was controlled by the CPM and T I Madhusudhanan was its president.
Other accused
Of the 19 chargesheeted earlier, 15 including first-accused Vikraman, are currently lodged at the Kannur Central Jail.
Conspiracy
Jayarajan, who was the principal conspirator, used first-accused Vikraman as a tool to execute the killing by organising professional killers, lethal weapons and bombs at the field level. They together could gather outsiders -- Nithin, Siraj, Jagga Rzahim, Prabhakaran. Vikraman also arranged SIM cards, weapons and explosives with other accused persons’ assistance.