Kochi, Feb 11 CPI-M leader P. Jayarajan was on Thursday denied anticipatory bail by the Kerala High Court for the murder of RSS activist Kathirur Manoj, making imminent his arrest by the CBI.

A former legislator of the Communist Party of India-Marxist, the 63-year-old Jayarajan had been refused anticipatory bail thrice by a lower court, following which he approached the high court.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), probing the murder case, vehemently opposed the anticipatory bail plea. High court judge Justice K.T. Shankaran upheld the CBI argument.

The CBI counsel on Thursday said bail must be given as the case was registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Manoj was one of those accused of trying to kill Jayarajan in 1999.

Manoj was in turn attacked by a seven-member gang on September 1, 2014, at Kathirur near Kannur. The assailants first threw a bomb on his vehicle and later hacked him to death.

Jayarajan, who was admitted to a hospital in Kannur after the lower court rejected his anticipatory bail plea last month, was likely to be arrested by the CBI, informed sources said.

The agency has so far arrested 23 people in the case. The CPI-M leader was questioned by the CBI last year but let off.

This is the second setback for Jayarajan and the CPI-M.

Earlier this week, the Kerala High Court ordered a CBI probe into the murder of Abdul Shukoor, an activist of the Indian Union Muslim League in which too Jayarajan is one of the 33 accused.

CPI-M leader denied anticipatory bail in murder case