Kerala CPI-M leader gets conditional bail in murder case

Kannur (Kerala) March 23  A court here on Wednesday granted conditional bail to CPI-M leader P. Jayarajan who is an accused in the murder of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker Kathiroor Manoj.

The Thalassery sessions court gave Jayarajan bail while asking him not to enter Kannur district for the next two months, to make himself available to the CBI officials every time they ask, and also to see that the witnesses in the case are not be influenced.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) decided to move an appeal against this order at the Kerala High Court on Wednesday.

The Thalassery court on February 12 sent Jayarajan into a month's judicial custody after he surrendered before the district sessions court.

But since then he was cooling his heels most of the time in various hospitals, being a heart patient. When the orders came on Wednesday, he was at a ayurveda hospital near here.

Earlier this month, the CBI had to again approach the court which gave them the custody of Jayarajan for three days for questioning, as he was admitted to the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital.

Jayarajan is former Kannur district secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).

He was booked by the CBI for conspiracy under Section 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), in the murder of RSS volunteer Manoj.

The CBI had earlier claimed that Jayarajan, the 25th accused in the murder of Manoj, was the brain behind the killing.

Manoj, 42, a district functionary of RSS, was hacked to death at Kathiroor in Kannur district of Kerala on September 1, 2014, allegedly by a group of CPI-M workers.

Speaking to reporters, CPI-M state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan welcomed the court orders and said that Jayarajan has done no wrong and the CBI had cooked up the case to please the RSS.

"The bail is a setback to the ploy of the Kummanem Rajasekheran- state BJP president and Chief Minister Oommen Chandy who are hand in glove to see that Jayarajan and the CPI-M is put on the back foot at the upcoming assembly polls," said Balakrishnan.

All eyes are now on if the CPI-M will field Jayarajan in the polls. He is one of the front-runners for getting a prized portfolio, should the CPI-M regain power at the May 16 assembly elecrtions.