Malappuram: The Additional District and Sessions Court, Manjeri, will pronounce its verdict on Friday in the 1995 murder of Othayi Pallipparamban Manaf. Two nephews of former LDF MLA PV Anvar are among the four accused currently facing trial. Judge AV Tellus will deliver judgment in the case that shook Othayi nearly 30 years ago.

Manaf, a Youth League worker and auto-rickshaw driver, was beaten and stabbed to death in broad daylight on April 13, 1995, at Othayi Angadi near Edavanna. The four accused were tried after remaining in hiding for 25 years. The first accused, Malangadan Shafeek, and the third accused, Malangadan Sharif, are both nephews of Anvar. The other accused are the 17th accused, Muneeb of Janathappadi, Kottappuram, Nilambur, and the 19th accused, Kabir alias Jabir of Mappuram Payyanattodika, Elamaram. 

PV Anvar was originally listed as the second accused in the chargesheet. His father, PV Shoukathali, the seventh accused, died before the chargesheet was filed. Despite multiple eyewitnesses, the Manjeri court had earlier acquitted Anvar and 21 others after the prime witness turned hostile.

For 25 years, four of the accused remained untraceable. Their arrests became possible only after sustained legal efforts led by Manaf’s brother, Abdul Rasaq. Acting on his petition, the Manjeri Judicial First Class Magistrate Court issued lookout notices and sought Interpol’s help on July 25, 2018. Following this, three of the accused—including the third accused, Malangadan Sharif—surrendered before the police. The first accused, Malangadan Shafeek, who had been living in Dubai, was arrested on June 24, 2020, after arriving at Karipur from Sharjah on a chartered flight during COVID-19 restrictions.

Former CBI Senior Special Public Prosecutor VN Anilkumar appeared for the prosecution in the Manjeri court during the trial proceedings.

Rasaq’s revision plea seeking punishment for the 21 accused earlier acquitted—including PV Anvar—is currently pending before the Kerala High Court.