The Thalassery District Sessions Court in Kannur, Kerala, on Monday (March 24, 2025) sentenced eight Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M] members to life imprisonment and one to three years in prison for the murder of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker Suraj at Muzhappilangad in Kannur in 2005.
Among those sentenced to life are the first accused T.K. Rajeesh, also an accused in the T.P. Chandrasekharan murder case, N.V. Yagesh, K. Shamjith, Neyyoth Sajeevan, Prabhakaran, K.V. Padmanabhan, Manoraj Narayanan and Manombeth Radhakrishnan. The eleventh accused, Pradeepan, received a three year prison term.
The court found nine CPI(M) members guilty of murder and conspiracy, while acquitting the tenth accused due to lack of evidence. Two accused – P.K Shamsuddin and T.P Raveendran – died during the trial.
Suraj was hacked to death in front of the Muzhappilangad telephone exchange on August 7, 2005. The prosecution argued that he was targeted for leaving the CPI(M) and joining the BJP.
The assailants who arrived in an autorickshaw threw a bomb before attacking him with weapons. Six months earlier, an attempt on his life had left him bedridden. He was 32-years-old at the time of his murder.
Appeal to be filed: Jayarajan
Following the verdict, CPI(M) Kannur district secretary M.V. Jayarajan stated that those convicted are “innocent” and that the party would take steps to “protect them.”
He also said an appeal would be filed against the court ruling, questioning the validity of the police’s claims.
The judgment marks the conclusion of a 19-year legal battle.
Published – March 24, 2025 11:57 am IST
