Congress leader K. Sudhakaran, MP, on Saturday demanded a CBI probe into the Paul Muthoot George murder case. He said that if the government was not willing to transfer the case to the CBI, the Congress would approach the High Court. He said that the people had begun to doubt the ongoing investigation into the case, he told reporters.
Mr. Sudhakaran stoutly denied the allegation of the CPI (M) State Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan that he had once sheltered Om Prakash, one of the accused in the case, at his room in the MLA’s hostel. He said that political niceties and decorum demanded that Mr. Vijayan prove the allegations.
Mr. Sudhakaran said that if the allegations were proved, he was willing to quit public life. He asked Mr. Vijayan whether he would relinquish his public life if the allegations were proved wrong. Lambasting Mr. Vijayan, he said that the Central Prison in Kannur, which was the hub of political violence, was crammed with the convicted CPI (M) workers. A single convicted Congressman could not be spotted in the jail.
The baseless allegations levelled by Mr. Vijayan against the Congress leaders, including V.M. Sudheeran who were known for their integrity and probity in public life, had really shocked the Kerala society. Mr. Sudhakaran said that in fact the murder case did not have much political significance. However, Mr. Vijayan was provoking the Congress leaders into attacking Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan who remained the second rung leader in the party. He alleged that Mr. Vijayan was using the murder case as a political weapon to promote his faction in the party and to cut Mr. Balakrishnan to size in the party.
