Kannur (Kerala) | A court here on Friday acquitted nine BJP-RSS workers in a case related to the murder of a CPI(M) activist in 2015.

O Preman (45) was attacked on February 25, 2015, at Chittariparamba in Kannur and he died at a hospital the following day.

Those acquitted are Sajesh C, Prajesh D, Inchikandi Nishanth, Lijin P, Manpaddy Vineesh, C Rajeesh, Nikhil N, R Ramesh and Renjith C V.

The second accused, Shyam Prasad, was killed in another political clash in 2018, defense lawyers said.

Advocate P Premarajan, who represented the accused, said the district additional sessions court acquitted them, citing "serious lapses" in the police investigation.

"The FIR was registered only the next day. Six people initially named in the FIR were later dropped, and the current accused were arraigned instead," he said.

He added that the trial established the accused were not present at the crime scene.

The police had booked them under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code. They were granted bail six months after their arrests.

The trial began in March 2024, during which 65 witnesses were examined and 135 documents submitted.

Defence lawyers P S Easwaran, D Sunilkumar and Akshay Baburaj also appeared for the accused.