Muzhappilangad Sooraj murder case: Kerala HC suspends life term awarded to fifth accused
The bench of Justices V Raja Vijayaraghavan and K V Jayakumar was considering an appeal filed by Manoraj, challenging the conviction and sentence imposed on him by the Thalassery sessions court. Sooraj, a BJP/RSS worker, was allegedly murdered by CPM party workers on Aug 5, 2005, at FCI Junction at Muzhappilangad, reportedly due to political animosity. In March 2025, the sessions court convicted and sentenced all seven accused in the case, including Manoraj.
In his petition, Manoraj alleged that he was arrayed as an accused only after a delay of six years from the date of the incident, and that too solely on the basis of a confession made by a co-accused while in police custody. His counsel pointed out that the final report filed in 2005 did not include Manoraj as an accused. It was only after T K Rajeesh, the second accused, was arrested in another case that he allegedly confessed to his own role and implicated Manoraj.
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He further argued that the first information statement mentioned only Shamsu, the first accused, along with four other identifiable persons, but not Manoraj. It was also pointed out that the first-time identification of Manoraj occurred in court nearly 19 years after the incident and this casts doubt on the reliability of the prosecution's version regarding his involvement.
On a preliminary examination of the case, HC held that while it was premature to reach a conclusive finding on the petitioner's claim of innocence, Manoraj had made out an arguable case warranting consideration. Accordingly, the bench suspended the sentence and granted bail, on the condition that he execute a bond for Rs 1 lakh, along with two solvent sureties each for the like amount.
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