The District Principal Sessions Court on Saturday acquitted all the three RSS activists in the murder case of Muhammed Riyaz Maulavi (34), a Madrassa teacher of Muhayuddin Juma Masjid at Choori.

Maulavi was murdered in 2017 near Kasaragod city.

Judge K K Balakrishnan acquitted S Ajesh , N Akhilesh and S Nithin, all hailing from Kelugude in this district, due to lack of evidence.

The trio had been jailed for the last 7 years, and their bail applications had been rejected during the trial of this case.

A large number of police personnel were deployed in the court premises since this morning in the wake of pronouncement of the verdict.

It was on March 20, 2017, Muhammed Riyaz Maulavi was hacked to death in his bedroom, adjoining the mosque, after miscreants barged into his room.

The Special Investigation team (SIT) arrested the 3 RSS workers on March 24, 2017 and they have been in jail for the past 7 years.

The trial began in 2019 and ended in 2022. The court examined 97 witnesses and 215 documents related to the case.

Meanwhile, Moulavi's wife Siadha and special public prosecutor said "they did not get the justice from the court and they would appeal the verdict in the higher court.

(With UNI inputs)