Kannur (Kerala) July 24 (IANS): A court on Friday denied anticipatory bail to senior Kerala CPI-M leader P. Jayarajan, who was questioned by the CBI last month in the murder of a Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) activist.
The Tellichery district sessions court pointed out that anticipatory bail could not be considered as the case had been filed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Jayarajan, 62, is on leave from the post of Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)'s Kannur district secretary since being hospitalised following a heart ailment.
Counsel for Jayarajan told reporters after his application was rejected that they would now move the Kerala High Court for anticipatory bail. Currently out on bail in another murder case, Jayarajan is a former legislator.
Jayarajan was questioned for over four hours by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) last month in connection with the murder of Kathirur Manoj last year.
Jayarajan's decision to seek anticipatory bail came after four CPI-M workers were arrested by the CBI earlier this month, bringing the number of people arrested to 23 in the Kathirur Manoj murder case.
Manoj, one of the people accused of making an unsuccessful bid on the life of Jayarajan in 1999, was attacked by a seven-member gang on September 1, 2014, in Kathirur near Kannur.
His assailants first threw a bomb on the RSS activist's vehicle and later hacked him to death.
Kerala Police probed the case first but it was later handed over to the CBI.