Kochi: The Kerala High Court on February 9 acquitted nine members of the National Development Front (NDF), who were earlier convicted by a district court in Kannur in connection with the murder of CPM leader Naroth Dileep.

The Thalassery Additional District Court-III had awarded life imprisonment to the nine accused after finding them guilty of the murder in 2019. However, a Division Bench of the High Court, comprising Justices Jayasankaran Nambiar and Jobin Sebastian, set aside the verdict and acquitted all the convicts.

Those acquitted are P K Latheef, U K Siddique, U K Faisal, V K Unais, P P Faisal, Mohammed Basheer, Yakub, P K Mohammed Farooq, and Paneri Abdul Gafur.

According to the prosecution, Dileep, a CPM branch secretary and a native of Vilakkode Chakkad in Kannur district, was hacked to death by the nine men on August 24, 2008. The police had booked 16 people in the case. However, the trial court acquitted seven.

The High Court set aside the trial court’s conviction while considering the appeals filed by the convicts.

“In the present case, on an overall appreciation of the evidence adduced by the prosecution, this court finds that there is no convincing or trustworthy evidence to establish the guilt of the accused beyond a reasonable doubt. Therefore, the serious lapses in the investigation cannot be brushed aside as inconsequential,” the court observed.

The National Development Front later evolved into the Popular Front of India (PFI), which was subsequently banned by the Union government for its alleged anti-national activities.