P Jayarajan is former Kannur district secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist. (PTI file photo)
A court in Kannur today 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 Mr 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 today.
The Thalassery court on February 12 sent Mr 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 Mr Jayarajan for three days for questioning, as he was admitted to the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital.
Mr 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 Mr 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 Mr 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 Mr Jayarajan and the CPI-M is put on the back foot at the upcoming assembly polls," said Mr Balakrishnan.
All eyes are now on if the CPI-M will field Mr 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 elections.