The Additional District and Sessions Court at Thalassery on Wednesday awarded life imprisonment and ₹50,000 each to five RSS workers found guilty of murdering Communist Party of India (Marxist) worker K.V. Yakub in 2006.
The court acquitted 11 other accused in the case, including RSS leader Valsan Thillankery. The convicted accused who have been awarded life term are local workers Shankaran, 48; his brother Vilangeri Manoharan alias Manoj, 42; T.V. Vijesh, 38; Kotheri Prakashan, 48; and P. Kavyesh, 40. The court pronounced an additional jail term and fine of ₹10,000 each to Shankaran and Kavyesh under the explosives Act.
The prosecution case is that a gang of RSS workers had murdered Yakub by hurling bombs at him on the night of June 13, 2006 at Keezhur near Iritty, when he was with his friends at the house of another friend Kallikkandi Babu. The assailants had entered from the backside of the house with bombs and weapons and hurled it at him from behind. His skull was shattered in the blast. Making sure that Yakub was dead, the assailants exploded the remaining bombs in the area to create terror for escaping.
Valsan Thillankery had been charged with conspiracy in the case. He was acquitted along with 10 others as the prosecution could not establish the charges against them. As many as 23 witnesses had been questioned and 49 evidences and documents were produced during the trial.
