KOCHI: The state government on Tuesday submitted in Kerala high court that one of the accused acquitted in the palm-chopping case , P M Manaf of Palluruthy, had played a key role in the conspiracy behind the murder of student leader Abhimanyu at Ernakulam Maharaja’s College.State attorney K V Sohan and senior government pleader P P Thajudeen told the court that Manaf, who was the 32nd accused in the palm-chopping case, had played a key role in the conspiracy.Advocate A Rajasimhan, who represented Manaf’s wife in a petition alleging police harassment, told the court that he was acquitted in the palm-chopping case but police were harassing him and his family in the murder case now.The government submission came in response to three petitions filed by family members of men wanted for Abhimanyu murder The petitions had alleged that wives and children of the wanted men were being illegally detained, threatened and harassed by police.Manaf was one among the 15-member gang that planned and carried out the murder and he went into hiding immediately after the murder, the government submitted in response to a petition from his wife Nadira V S.It also submitted that Shameer of Palluruthy, whose wife Mansya had also approached the court, had aided the accused in the murder case to escape from police. The court was also told that the investigation team was verifying the calls made from Mansya’s phone.The government contended that police had never summoned the family members of suspects. Police will take steps in accordance with law if the presence of family members was required, it said.

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