Facing criticism to step down as Home Minister, Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan has hit back saying it should not be forgotten that it is his ministry that nabbed the culprits in the Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) leader T.P. Chandrasekharan murder case without fear or favour.
“The T.P. murder case is one of the most prominent cases in Malabar. We were adamant that we should nab the actual culprits. We completed the investigation in just over 50 days and filed the charge-sheet. At that point, there were 55 murder cases pending in Kannur for the past 10 years. In Vadakara, five murder cases were pending. Have the actual accused been caught in these cases?” Mr. Radhakrishnan asked.
He then cautioned the public from being diverted by ruses to distract attention from the impending T.P murder case verdict.
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“The police force used scientific methods of investigation to nab the accused from places largely known as ‘party villages.’ Nothing like that has been done before. At the time when they were caught, there was not a word of support for our achievement from anywhere. Now, when the case verdict is due this month, every attempt is being made to incapacitate the police. Do not fall for this secret agenda of the CPI(M),” he said in his press conferenc on Tuesday.
Reacting to a statement by Union Minister of State for Home Mullappally Ramachandran that a probe should be done into the “larger conspiracy” behind the case, the Minister said, “I agree. But now the focus is on completing the trial by December 31. This is the deadline given by the Kerala High Court, and the government is not going to violate the court’s order.”
Later, he said he was not personally against a CBI probe into the larger conspiracy, but stopped short, saying it was not his decision alone to make. Reacting to Congress leader K. Sudhakaran’s verbal attack, he said: “I have been in political life for 30 years. I too can use sizzling words, but my culture does not permit me to do so.”
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Pooh-poohing allegations that the Home Ministry had a role in the SNC-Lavalin case order discharging Communist Party of India (Marxist) State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, Mr. Radhakrishnan said that “anyone with a little common knowledge will know that the judiciary and executive are two separate, independent arms of governance. And personally, I do not believe in adjustment politics.”
Terming himself a true-blood Congress party worker, he said he would step down if those who appointed him as Minister asked him to do so.
On a question as to why an appeal was not filed against the acquittal of 20 accused in the T.P. murder case within the stipulated time, he said “we can take steps only as per the advice given by the special prosecutors in the case.”