Headlines
Fresh allegations levelled against Chandy government, ministers
Thiruvananthapuram, March 30
Two
whistleblowers appeared to create fresh trouble for the Oommen Chandy
government on Monday by levelling fresh allegations against four Kerala
ministers - three of whom were not named but said to be of the Congress.
The
first whistleblower was former minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar, whose Kerala
Congress-Pillai has now been booted out of the ruling United Democrat
Front alliance.
After lashing out last yeaer in the assembly
against his former cabinet colleague, PWD minister V.K.Ebrahim Kunju by
alleging widespread corruption his office, Ganesh Kumar, a film actor
by profession, Monday turned emotional in front of the Lok Ayukta when
he said that he knows that he is exposing a corrupt minister and hence
even his life and honour are at stake.
He told the court that a
detailed probe should be ordered into the manner in which Kunju, who
started off as a worker in a factory in Kochi in 1983, owns huge wealth
today.
Neither Kunju's wife nor children had jobs to save this
much money and as Kunju's known profession was that of a politician,
hence his wealth has to be probed into, he said.
Ganesh Kumar
told reporters after coming out of the Lok Ayukta's court that he fears
for his life but will not seek any sort of police protection.
"I
have given clinching evidence to expose the numerous corrupt deals of
Kunju. I am different from other politicians who claim to have lots of
documents when they level allegations against others. Here, I have
placed all the documents, which speak for themselves of the massive
corruption that has taken place, before the Lok Ayukta. This government
has institutionalised corruption," he alleged.
Meanwhile Kunju charged Ganesh Kumar of resorting to personal attacks.
"He is levelling baseless allegations and he will be proceeded against legally and politically by me," he said.
Meanwhile,
whistle blowerbar owner Biju Ramesh, who last year alleged Finance
Minister K.M. Mani took a bribe of Rs. 1 crore, appeared before a
magistrate and gave a statement.
"All along when I raised the
bribe charges, I was challenged from several quarters to give evidence. I
today had an in-camera sitting and the magistrate took my 30-page
statement. I have not only said but also given audio evidence to
substantiate my allegations which include not just Mani but three other
state ministers also," said Ramesh soon after he emerged after a
three-and-a-half hours session before the magistrate.
He said he
had full faith in the judiciary. "First I was threatened, then when I
failed to yield, they started cajoling me requesting me not to appear
before the magistrate to give the statement. Now I feel a lot relieved
that I have done my job. I did this so as to help the investigation
that's already going on in the case," he said.
Communist Party of India-Marxist state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan claimed Cha