P Jayarajan appears before CBI court

KOCHI: CPM Kannur district secretary P. Jayarajan appeared before the CBI Court in Kochi on Thursday in connection with the Kathiroor Manoj murder case. The CBI had submitted chargesheets against Mr Jayarajan and five other CPM workers in the case in September. Mr Jayarjan is the 25th accused in the case. A.N. Shamseer, MLA, and CPM leader Karayi Rajan accompanied Mr Jayarajan to the court. All 25 accused in the case were present in the court. The case was posted for next hearing on January 18, 2018.

The court also granted bail to 10 persons including Mr Jayarajan while the custody of 15 other accused were extended. Mr Jayarajan, who was staying in Ernakulam Guest House, declined to comment to media persons’ questions. Kathiroor Manoj, an RSS activist was hacked to death, allegedly by CPM activists at Kathiroor on September 1, 2014. CBI first filed chargesheet against 19 CPM workers and supplementary chargesheet was filed against Jayarajan and 5 others later. According to the CBI, the murder was committed to terrorise people as a large number of CPM workers had defected from the party and joined the BJP. Another reason was to take revenge against the attack on Mr Jayarajan in 1999.