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Thiruvananthapuram: Nine CPI(M) activists, including the brother of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's press secretary, have been found guilty in the murder of a BJP worker at Kannur in Kerala in 2005.
BJP worker Elambilayi Suraj was murdered on August 7, 2005 due to political rivalry as he left the CPI(M) and joined the BJP. He was 32 years old.
Apart from the chief minister's press secretary P M Manoj's brother Manoraj, the others found guilty included T K Rajesh, who is a convict in the brutal murder of dissident CPM leader T P Chandrasekharan in 2012.
Thalassery principal district and sessions judge K T Nisar Ahammed pronounced the judgment on Friday. Sentence will be pronounced on March 24.
The others found guilty were Yagesh, Shamjith, Sajeevan, Prabhakaran, Padmanabhan, Radhakrishnan and Prakashan. All are CPM local leaders and workers. Five accused were found to be directly involved in the murder and the others were involved in the conspiracy. Two accused died during trial, while one accused was acquitted.