EP was shot during train journey

KANNUR: The murder attempt against EP Jayarajan took place at Chirala near Ongole in Andhra Pradesh on April 12, 1995, while EP was travelling home on the Rajdhani Express train after attending the CPM Party Congress held at Jalandhar. EP was shot from behind while he was washing his face in the wash basin. He was shot in the neck. EP often says that the bullet is still there in his neck.

The CPM alleged that the plan to murder EP was hatched in a conspiracy by MV Raghavan, CP John, K. Sudhakaran and others. Following the incident, Sudhakaran, who had reached Kannur railway station to go to Chennai, was surrounded by a police team. Sudhakaran, who refused to be arrested, ran and entered into the train. The police too followed him. When the train reached Thalassery, police forcibly took Sudhakaran out of the train and took him to the police station. Although MV Raghavan was initially named an accused in the case registered in Andhra, his name was later removed from the list of accused.

Sudhakaran fought a long legal battle in connection with the case. No evidence was found against him in the probe carried out by the Andhra police. He approached the High Court after the Sessions Court rejected his plea seeking his acquittal in the case registered in Kerala.

One of the accused murdered
It was alleged that K Sudhakaran had conspired in the capital city and assigned the first and second accused for the murder. Vikramchalil Sasi and Dineshan were the first and second accused in the case. Sasi, who was earlier an RSS activist, worked in the Shiv Sena after falling out with the organization. Sasi told the police that his friend, RSS activist Anil Kumar, was killed by the CPM members and that he tried to kill Jayarajan as an act of revenge.

Sasi, who was out on bail in the attempt to murder case, was hacked to death by a gang in 1999 during a bus journey in Koothuparamba. Dineshan, who was the second accused in the attempt to murder case, was later convicted and jailed in the case of hacking SFI leader KV Sudheesh to death.