Kochi, Feb 28 (IANS): Thaha Fazil, a CPI-M youth arrested for alleged Maoist-links failed to get bail from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court here on Friday.

The NIA strongly opposed the bail plea, which said that a third person who had escaped, was yet to be traced and, hence, bail should not be given to Fazil. The court while accepting the NIA contention denied bail to him.

Fazil along with his friend Allen Shuaib were arrested in November last year from their home town Kozhikode after police allegedly seized Maoist leaflets that condemned the Central government's action in Jammu and Kashmir.

On Friday, only Fazil had moved the court for the bail.

The Kerala Police had charged both under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and later the NIA took over the case.

While Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan came under fire from his party for the arrest of the two youths in November, he stood his ground that the two were not CPI-M members, while the party unit at Kozhikode maintained the two were their party members.

Later, the local party leadership also toed Vijayan's line, much to the displeasure of the families of the two youths, both strong CPI-M sympathisers.

But, the two got a major reprieve, early this month, when Vijayan after, first refusing to write to Union Home Minister Amit Shah to assign the case back to the Kerala Police, a day later informed the Assembly that he has written to Shah on this.