Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said here on Thursday that his government was willing to permit the National Investigation Agency (NIA) take over the probe into the alleged seizure of weapons from an arms training centre of the Popular Front of India (PFI) at Narath, near Kannur, on April 23. Talking to reporters, Mr. Chandy said the provisions under which the case had been registered merits investigation by the NIA. “They can take over the investigation on their own. We need not seek it in such a serious case,” Mr. Chandy said. The State government was taking legal steps. “The law will take its own course. We do not want to mix politics with legal action,” he said. As many as 21 Popular Front of India activists were arrested following a raid by the police on April 23. On concerns expressed by the Kannada-speaking minority on the rule making knowledge of Malayalam compulsory for government employees, Mr. Chandy said similar problems had come to his notice also from Tamil-speaking people.
