The National Investigation Agency (NIA) probing the Pantheerankavu Maoist case said on Saturday that the accused Vijith Vijayan was associated with a Maoist cadre, who was killed in an encounter at Vythiri in 2019.

The agency mentioned it in the report filed at the NIA Special Court here when Vijith was produced on expiry of his five-day custodial interrogation. The accused is alleged to have links with Jaleel, who was killed in an encounter at Vythiri on March 7, 2019. He also knew about various meetings organised by Jaleel in Kozhikode, according to the report. The court remanded him to judicial custody till February 19.

The case hit the limelight following the arrest of Alan Shuhaib and Thaha Fazal, students of law and journalism respectively of Kannur University, for alleged links with the Maoists. They were booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The NIA had taken over the probe from the Kerala Police in December, 2019. Vijith was arrested by the NIA on the charges of radicalising and recruiting Alan and Thaha.

The NIA submitted that he was working with the publishing wing of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) organisation. He translated several CPI(Maoist) literature from English to Malayalam. It was used to propagate Maoist ideology in the State, the report said.

The agency alleged that Vijith and C.P. Usman, an accused who is absconding, had participated in meetings organised by the cadres of CPI(Maoist) in Kozhikode. It had sent the electronic gadget seized from Vijith for detailed analysis at C-DAC, Thiruvananthapuram.