The land scam at Kadakampally allegedly involving the relatives of Salim Raj, the former gunman of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, was visited on unsuspecting small landowners in the district with the tacit approval of the highest authorities in government, Deputy Leader of the Opposition and CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.
He was inaugurating a public meeting in front of the local village office to express solidarity with the victims of the alleged scam involving 44.5 acres of land.
The Chief Minister’s office had gone out of the way to support Salim Raj, including getting his wife transferred to the Land Revenue Commissioner’s office on deputation from her home department, Mr. Balakrishnan said.
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The victims had approached the Chief Minister several times, but to no avail. Land mafia had threatened some of them, Mr. Balakrishnan said.
The officials responsible should be suspended and criminally prosecuted, he added.
Former Speaker M. Vijaykumar and V. Sivankutty, MLA, were among those present.
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