A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Court on Wednesday (October 28, 2026) reserved its verdict in the case relating to the murder of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) worker Abdul Shukkoor for November 12.
The case assumed political significance after former Kannur district secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) P. Jayarajan and former MLA and then Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) State secretary T.V. Rajesh were arraigned as accused numbers 32 and 33. The court had earlier refused to quash the trial proceedings against them.
Shukkoor, 21, a native of Ariyil near Taliparamba, Kannur, was hacked to death by a group of assailants at Keezhara under the Kannapuram police station limits on February 20, 2012. The murder was allegedly carried out in retaliation for an attack on Mr. Jayarajan and Mr. Rajesh during their visit to tension-hit Ariyil earlier that morning. Shukkoor and four other youths, who had taken refuge in a house at Keezhara, were allegedly forced to leave the premises after a group of CPI(M) workers intimidated the house owners. The police said their captors photographed them using mobile phones and verified their identities with party workers. Following the purported verification, three of them were released. Shukkoor and Zakaria were then taken to a nearby field and stabbed. While Shukkoor succumbed to his injuries, Zakaria, who also sustained stab injuries, managed to escape.
Mr. Jayarajan and Mr. Rajesh were charged under Section 118 of the Indian Penal Code after investigators found that they allegedly had prior knowledge of the conspiracy to kill Shukkoor. The conspiracy was purportedly hatched in a room at the Taliparamba Co-operative Hospital, where they had been admitted on February 20 following an attack on Mr. Jayarajan’s convoy by alleged IUML workers earlier the same day.
The Kerala High Court ordered a CBI probe into the incident while allowing a writ petition filed by Shukkoor’s mother, A.C. Aathikka, in 2016. According to the petitioner, the police had failed to collect evidence relating to the alleged criminal conspiracy involving Mr. Jayarajan and Mr. Rajesh, who were purportedly instrumental in the murder. She pointed out that while the other accused had been charged under Section 123(b) of the Indian Penal Code relating to conspiracy, Mr. Jayarajan and Mr. Rajesh had been charged only under Section 118 of the IPC, pertaining to concealing a design to commit an offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life.
Of the 33 accused in the case, two have since died.
Published – October 28, 2026 03:38 pm IST
