The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday charged two Communist Party of India (Marxist) leaders for their alleged roles in the case involving the killing of Indian Muslim Youth League worker Ariyil Abdul Shukoor in 2012, reports said. The agency booked Kannur District Secretary P Jayarajan for murder and conspiracy and Kallyiasseri MLA TV Rajesh for conspiracy.

The investigating agency filed the chargesheet in the Thalassery Sessions Court seven years after the Kerala High Court ordered a CBI investigation into the matter in June 2016, Mathrubhumi reported. The party has claimed the charges are part of a political agenda by the central government ahead of elections this summer.

The victim was a 22-year-old who was killed near Thaliparamba in Kannur district, The News Minute reported. The investigators claimed that Shukoor was murdered because he had allegedly blocked and attacked the vehicle in which the accused CPI(M) leaders were travelling. His murder occurred within hours of the attack on their vehicle.

Jayarajan was first arrested in August 2012 and remanded to custody for 14 days. Communist activists had staged a protest soon after his arrest. He was also accused in a case filed in connection with the murder of Elamthottathil Manoj, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker, The Times of India reported.