Kannur: Senior CPI(M) leader P Jayarajan has been slapped with murder and conspiracy charges in connection with the killing of of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) activist Abdul Shukoor in 2012.
TV Rajesh, MLA, has also been named in the supplementary charge-sheet, filed in the Thalassery sessions court, for the conspiracy related to the killing.
Police had initially claimed that some prominent CPI(M) leaders in the district were aware of the circumstances of the murder.
Abdul Shukoor, an young activist of the Muslim League, was murdered allegedly by CPI(M) activists at Keezhara near Kannavam in Kannur on February 20, 2012. The 19-year-old was allegedly held by CPM workers at the party village where they conducted a trial and killed him. It was reportedly to avenge the attack on a vehicle in which Jayarajan, the CPM Kannur district secretary, was travelling. It is said some Muslim League activists were involved in this crime.
Jayarajan, who was then summoned for questioning, was arrested in August 2012 and the police action had led to widespread protests and violence.
CPI(M) leaders had insisted both Jayarajan and Rajesh were framed in the case by the then Congress-led UDF government as part of its political agenda of demoralising the party.
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