Thiruvananthapuram: The BJP lodged a complaint against the ruling CPM with the state police chief demanding a "thorough investigation" over bribery allegations in appointments to the Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC) on Sunday.
The party, intensifying its criticism of the CPM, accused the Left leadership of attempting to downplay the fraud as an internal issue and alleged that "big forces" were involved in the scam.

In a complaint submitted to DGP Sheikh Darvesh Saheb, BJP state chief K Surendran alleged that appointments in the PSC were being made by the ruling party after taking bribes. He said is a serious matter that must be investigated. He alleged that the incident was only the tip of the iceberg and it has broken the credibility of the PSC.

"It is crystal clear that a PSC member cannot be appointed merely on the wishes and actions of a CPM Area Committee member and so it has to be inferred that there are indeed big forces at play behind it," he said. It is therefore necessary to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter and bring the main culprits to justice, Surendran said in his complaint.

The BJP leader's complaint further says that there allegedly is a black money trail leading to a Rs 22 lakh bribe paid by CPM local leader Pramod Kottoolli and that also needs to be investigated. A thorough police investigation is needed to regain public trust in the PSC in the wake of the allegations, he added.

The BJP lodged the police complaint a day after the ruling CPM expelled its Kozhikode Town Area Committee member K V Pramod alias Pramod Kottoolli, whose name was reported in connection with the allegations that bribes were paid for appointments to the Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC).

The district secretariat of the ruling CPM, in a statement, however, did not refer to any allegations but said Kothuli was removed from the primary membership of the party for tarnishing its image in public. The issue was earlier raised in the state assembly by the Opposition over news reports that a local CPM leader in Kozhikode had allegedly collected bribes from a doctor on the promise of securing a position for him as a PSC member.

The CPM district secretariat, which met on Saturday, decided to take action against Kothuli after his name cropped up in news reports. Meanwhile, he, along with his mother and son, went to the house of one Sreejith, who had allegedly made the bribery claims, and staged a protest demanding that the accusations of bribery be proved.
(With PTI Inputs)