The Indian Union Muslim League, mimcking a strategy adopted by the CPM, has declared that the Crime Branch arrest of Manjeshwaram MLA M C Kamarudheen in the Fashion Gold 'investor cheating' case on November 7 as "politically motivated" and "high-handed".

If the CPM had said that the Centre was out to stymie the LDF government's pro-poor policies, the League said the LDF government was using the Fashion Gold case to "balance" the battery of charges it was now facing.

At this stage, the party has ruled out the resignation of Kamarudheen as MLA.

The League's political stand was spelled out by the party's national general secretary and MP, P K Kunhalikutty. "The party still stands by its earlier position that the money should be returned to investors within a specific period of time," Kunhalikutty told the media after the High Power Committee meeting of the party in Malappuram on Sunday.

"But what is now happening in the case of Kamarudheen is unprecedented. The action taken against him has never happened against anyone whose business had gone bust. They (the LDF government) have shown this high-handedness to counter the innumerable investigations that have been initiated against the government. Such high-handedness will never stand the scrutiny of law," Kunhalikutty said.

He said there were many sitting MLAs in the ruling side who have been accused of cheating and against whom the victims had given complaints. "In some cases, there are even court orders," Kunhalikutty said.

Even if it is a cheating case, Kunhalikutty said the police would have to first conduct a probe to find out whether it had happened. "Without even doing it, they have now foisted a non-bailable charge on him," Kunhalikutty said.

He was highly critical of the manner of Kamarudheen's arrest. "He was arrested in the morning and by noon they announced that he was under arrest," Kunhalikutty said.

He said it would be wrong to consider all charges against Kamarudheen as true. "If that is the case then many in the LDF government, from the Chief Minister to those under him, are facing charges. Has any investigation against Kamarudheen been completed? How many times have he been questioned? How many witnesses were questioned," he asked.

He also asked whether such a small time was enough to question Kamarudheen on all the issues related to the case.

The IUML leader also hinted that the arrest was pre-planned. "The investigating officer, an assistant superintendent of police, came out of the interrogation room and told the press that Kamarudheen would be arrested. "A major grouse of the CPM was that the central agencies were leaking information to the media. But here, the police called a press conference and announced the arrest," Kunhalikutty said.

He also reiterated the earlier stand that the party had no idea about the Fashion Gold was running at a loss when Kamarudheen was picked as candidate for Manjeshwram; Kamarudheen was chosen to replace Kunhalkutty when he became an MP. "We went by his performance as a student leader, his active involvement in social issues and he was also a singer," Kunhalikutty said.