Tribespeople meet Rahul Gandhi with complaint against Annie Raja's election committee convener

Malappuram: A group of tribespeople from Attappadi in Palakkad travelled to Edavanna Town in the Malappuram district on Tuesday to meet UDF candidate Rahul Gandhi. Edavanna is part of the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency from where Congress leader Gandhi is contesting in the April 26 polls.

The tribespeople had a grievance that they raised with the former president of the Congress party. Seven families from the Bhoothivazhi tribal colony have claimed they were deceived by a contractor, who was assigned to construct houses for them under the Additional Tribal Sub Plan (ATSP).

The tribespeople have pointed fingers at P M Basheer, who is the election committee convener from Nilambur for LDF candidate Annie Raja.

According to the tribespeople, Basheer, who is the standing council chairman of the Nilambur Municipality, won a contract to construct houses in Bhoothivazhi near Agali in 2015-16. The tribespeople have claimed Basheer, Nilambur native Abdul Gafoor and Attappadi native Zakir swindled them out of Rs 13.62 lakhs that was granted by the government.

Basheer is the prime accused in a Crime Branch case registered on the complaint of the families. He is accused in two other cases on the same issue. The tribal families have claimed that justice is delayed due to Basheer's political influence.

“We have approached the High Court with the plea to vacate a stay which prohibits trial in the case,” said Kalamani, a resident of Boothivazhi colony. “There was pressure from the local police when we filed a complaint. They asked us to go for a compromise with the accused and settle the matter. But we managed to fight it legally. We hope the intervention of a leader like Rahul Gandhi will expedite the result of the fight we are in for the last eight years.”

The tribespeople have claimed the contractors constructed low-quality houses by diverting the majority of the funds allocated for the project. The government allocated an additional Rs 1.28 lakhs to each family under another scheme to improve the facilities of the houses. The complainants said Basheer transferred that money to his account by making them sign a few documents after convincing them it was for linking their Aadhaar cards with the bank account. The tribespeople said they were given Rs 500 each after signing the documents at the SBI Branch at Agali. The case was filed at the Agali Police Station before the Crime Branch took over the investigation.

“Basheer has managed to get a stay and the state has not approached the court to vacate it yet,” Kalamani said. Meanwhile, Basheer had refuted the allegation. “It is a political plot to damage my image. The case is under the consideration of the court. I am defending my innocence in court and hoping for a favourable verdict. They cannot raise an allegation against Annie Raja, so they are targeting me,” Basheer said.