Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said that phone tapping done by the police in Kannur was in compliance with the law.
Replying to questions from journalists at his weekly Cabinet briefing here on Wednesday, the Chief Minister said that the mobile phone of T.V. Rajesh, MLA, had not been tapped by the police.
He added that all numbers called by an MLA could not be exempted from being tapped.
(It has been reported that the police got information about Mr. Rajesh having protected the accused in the murder of Muslim League activist Abdul Shukkoor by tapping the telephone of Communist Party of India (Marxist) Kannapuram East local committee secretary T.V. Lakshmanan. Mr. Rajesh had reportedly talked to Mr. Lakshmanan in the first week of March this year.)
“Execution”
Mr. Chandy said that the killing of Shukkoor was not just a murder, but a cruel “execution”.
The police had investigated the murder thoroughly disregarding threats.
They had arrested CPI (M) Kannur district secretary P. Jayarajan on the basis of testimonies of the accused and conclusions drawn from investigations.
The government had not intervened in the investigations, but had given a free hand to the police.
Till now, the police had listed those suggested by the party as the accused in political murders.
The change in mode of investigation had led to attack on police personnel and their properties. Violence by CPI (M) workers in protest against the arrest would be dealt with according to the law.
The Chief Minister noted that though the CPI (M) had alleged police torture of the accused, they could not present the victims before the media on their getting bail or produce medical reports.
As to the allegations against Muslim League MLA P.K. Basheer, action would be taken if he had breached the law.
