KANNUR: The Thalassery district sessions court in Kannur on Monday sentenced eight CPM workers to life imprisonment in connection with the 2005 murder of BJP worker Elambilayi Sooraj of Muzhappilangad.
The Sessions court judge KT Nisar Ahammed also sentenced the 11th accused to 3 years in prison.
Among the convicts include, TK Rajeesh (45), who was also the accused in the TP Chandrasekharan murder case, Manoraj Narayanan, brother of the Chief Minister’s Press Secretary PM Manoj, 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.
Out of which Rajesh, Yogesh, Shamjith, Sajeevan, and Prabhakaran were found guilty of murder. Meanwhile, Padmanabhan, Radhakrishnan, Prakashan was found guilty for criminal conspiracy. Pradeepan was convicted for helping the accused to go underground after the murder.
The murder which occurred on August 7, 2005, was found driven 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.
Suraj had previously been attacked by CPM activists six months before his murder. 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 TK Rajeesh—who was arrested in the TP case—two more suspects were added. One of them was Manoraj Narayanan. However, the first accused PK Shamsuddin and and twelfth accused TP Raveendran, died during the proceedings, bringing the total number of accused back to ten.
“Sooraj was brutally murdered by CPM activists only because he left CPM to join BJP. However, even after his murder, the same party members demolished his tomp two times. The verdict after 20 years of his murder has easen Sooraj’s parents’ pain,” said Adv. Premarajan