Malappuram: An additional sessions court in Manjeri here found 12 of the 21 accused guilty in the controversial Kuniyil twin murder case.

The court has found the 1st to 11th accused and 18th accused guilty in the murder of siblings Kolakkadan Azad (37) and Kolakkadan Aboobakker (48) on June 10, 2012, at Kuniyil town. The Manjeri Additional Session Court (3) judge TH Rajitha also acquitted nine other accused in the case. 

The trial proceedings in the ten-year-old case ended on March 19, 2023. The court cross-examined 275 witnesses, several pieces of evidence, scientific documents and video footage of the crime scene. 

Kolakkadan Azad and Kolakkadan Aboobakker, both accused in the murder of Atheef Rahman, were hacked to death by a gang on a public road in Kuniyil. The accused included the IUML unit secretary. 

The trial proceedings started on September 2018 but got delayed due to Covid-19 and the transfer of Judge AV Mridula. The Supreme Court also dismissed a petition filed by the wives of the deceased men requesting Judge AV Mridula to pronounce the verdict in the case.