Kottayam: In a curious political development, an investigation report blaming the ‘I’ group in the Congress for the conspiracy behind the bar bribery scam involving the late K M Mani, leader of the Kerala Congress (M), has now emerged. However, Kerala Congress (M) chairman Jose K Mani has denied that the report was prepared by his party. “The party is in possession of an inquiry report. However, no decision has been taken to make it public,” he said. Jose added that the contents of the report circulating now were known for quite some time.
Meanwhile, Joy Abraham, who was a member of the panel set up by the steering committee of Kerala Congress (M) to probe the scam, said that the panel had not submitted any report. “Even though the inquiry panel had met, not even a draft report was prepared. A report attributing its findings to the panel was released earlier. However, it carried no signatures,” he pointed out.
The report, in fact, was prepared by a private investigative agency. It alleges that the bar bribery scam was a conspiracy hatched by the ‘I’ group to destroy the political future of K M Mani and his party.
The report purportedly prepared by the private agency says the conspiracy was led by Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala, who was a minister at that time; former Chief Whip P C George; the then Minister Adoor Prakash and Joseph Vazhakkan. Others who joined them included Kerala Congress (B) chairman R Balakrishna Pillai, Francis George, former Vigilance Director Jacob Thomas, Vigilance SP R Sukesan and hotelier Biju Ramesh.
The then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy was aware of the plot. Even though Chandy and his ‘A’ group initially remained silent supporters, they later defended Mani after realizing that Chennithala was trying to become the Chief Minister by putting pressure on the Kerala Congress (M) leader, the report claimed.
An inquiry was launched by Kerala Congress (M) based on the decisions taken by a meeting of the steering committee on November 16, 2014. A report submitted to the state committee on March 31, 2016 says the party would not benefit by continuing as a part of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF).
However, two members of the probe panel Antony Raju and Francis George quit the party before its term expired and formed their own party named Democratic Kerala Congress.
Jose K Mani offered 10cr to withdraw allegations: Biju Ramesh
Triggering a new controversy, bar hotelier Biju Ramesh, who hurled bribery charges against the Mani and the UDF government, now claimed that he was offered Rs 10 crore by KC(M) leader and K M Mani's son Jose K Mani to withdraw the allegations. Biju alleged that Jose K Mani first threatened him to withdraw the charges, but later offered the money.
He alleged that Jose K Mnai contacted him using the phone of another bar owner John Kallattu.