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CPM Kannur District Secretary M.V. Jayarajan defends party workers convicted in the 2005 Sooraj murder case, claiming their innocence and alleging fabricated confessions.
Kannur: M.V. Jayarajan, the CPM Kannur District Secretary, has strongly defended the nine CPM workers convicted in the 2005 Sooraj murder case, insisting that they are innocent. He stated that the party would appeal the court’s decision, which found the workers guilty of killing Sooraj, a BJP member from Muzhappilangad.
Jayarajan questioned the validity of the confessions made by the accused, implying that the police may have fabricated their statements. He also suggested that there was no truth to the guilt of the accused and emphasized that the party would take steps to protect those they believe are wrongly implicated.
The court’s verdict came after nearly two decades of legal proceedings. Sooraj, who had left the CPM and joined the BJP, was murdered in August 2005. Initially, 10 individuals were named as accused, but the investigation later expanded after T.K. Rajeesh, who was arrested in connection with the T.P. murder case, confessed to his involvement in the Sooraj killing. As a result, Rajeesh was added to the list of accused. The trial, originally set to begin in 2010, faced several delays, and the verdict was only delivered 20 years later. The court found Rajeesh, a key figure in the T.P. murder case, and P.M. Manoraj, the brother of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s press secretary, P.M. Manoj, guilty for their direct roles in the murder.
The verdict also saw the court prove conspiracy charges against three other accused. The case has been contentious due to its political nature, with Sooraj’s shift from the CPM to the BJP at the heart of the tensions. Six months before his death, there had already been an attempted murder on Sooraj’s life.
Also Read: Kerala: Nine CPM workers convicted in 2005 murder of BJP worker Sooraj in Kannur
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