Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Police officers investigating the complaint against a member of the personal staff of Health Minister Veena George are seeking answers to some curious aspects of the case.
For instance, how did Akhil Sajeev of Pathanamthitta learn that Dr R G Nitha Raj of Malappuram had applied for a temporary post in the Ayush Department? It was Akhil Sajeev who had first contacted Nitha’s father-in-law, Haridasan, seeking a bribe to secure the job. Akhil Sajeev had also reportedly asked Haridasan to pay a part of the bribe to Akhil Mathew, a personal staff member of Veena George.
Haridasan later filed a complaint with the health minister’s office after realizing that he was duped. When the minister’s office did not respond to his complaint, he revealed the matter to the media on Wednesday.
In his complaint, Haridasan said that he believed Akhil Sajeev, as the latter belonged to the Minister’s home district, and that nobody could learn details about applicants for government posts unless they had good access to power centers.
Akhil Sajeev had introduced himself to Haridasan as a leader of the ruling CPM and an office secretary of the CITU, the trade union of the CPM, in Pathanamthitta. Haridasan said in the complaint that he believed Akhil Sajeev would have good influence in the minister’s office based on these credentials.
“Akhil Sajeev quoted Rs 5 lakh for a three-year temporary appointment and Rs 10 lakh for a permanent post. He also remarked that even though giving bribes was wrong, the system could not be changed,” said Haridasan.
Haridasan said that he immediately transferred Rs 25,000 to Akhil Sajeev via GooglePay. Later, Haridasan reached the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram based on Akhil Sajeev’s instructions to meet Akhil Mathew, the Health Minister’s staff member.
On the day Haridasan approached the Health Minister’s office, he could not meet Akhil Mathew. In his complaint, Haridasan said that he visited the Secretariat again the next day and spoke to Akhil Mathew outside the Health Minister’s office. Subsequently, they met again at the autorickshaw stand outside the office at 2.30 pm, where Haridasan reportedly paid Rs 1 lakh to Akhil Mathew.
The police are now investigating whether Akhil Mathew was present in the minister’s office on that day. Evidence such as CCTV visuals and Akhil Mathew’s phone call records would also have to be examined.
Meanwhile, the police arrived at Haridasan’s house in Malappuram around 2.30 p.m. on Wednesday and took his statement. As per a preliminary probe, Haridasan and Akhil Mathew have not contacted each other over the phone.
When the police asked Haridasan how he had recognized Akhil Mathew at the Secretariat, he said that Akhil Sajeev had sent a photo of the minister's staff member to him by WhatsApp. The police are trying to confirm whether the person in the photo is indeed Akhil Mathew.
The Minister had earlier said that Haridasan’s complaint was handed over to the police on September 23.
Akhil Sajeev absconding
Akhil Sajeev, who hails from Vallikode in Pathanamthitta, is reportedly missing from his native place. He was the office secretary of the CITU in Pathanamthitta a year ago. However, he was sacked from this job after it emerged that he had diverted Rs 3 lakh from the levy and bonus amount of workers to his own account using fake seals and signatures. CITU had filed a police complaint in this regard against Akhil Sajeev.
“There were complaints that he had also cheated some people by offering them jobs in the Tourism Department and Travancore Titanium,” said CITU district secretary P B Harsha Kumar.
