Kochi: Leader of the Opposition in Kerala Assembly, V D Satheesan, on Sunday said the Serious Fraud Investigation Office’s (SFIO) questioning of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter Veena T in the CMRL pay-off case was only an election stunt. He said the SFIO’s decision to record Veena’s statement, which comes 10 months after the investigation was announced, was nothing but a procedure.
“What’s significant is that there has been no progress in the SFIO probe in the past 10 months. All that is being done in the name of the investigation is a sham. There are reports that the pending bypolls in Kerala will be announced tomorrow. The latest SFIO move is only a ploy to make an impression that the BJP and CPM are on a face-off in Kerala. The fact there is a deal between the CPM and BJP in Kerala cannot be concealed with all these,” Satheesan said in Kochi.
The Congress leader said a similar drama was played out in the Karuvannur Cooperative Bank scam during the Lok Sabha elections. He was referring to the Enforcement Directorate summoning CPM leaders as part of the investigation into the scam. “Then itself, I had said that it was an election stunt. Have you heard the word Karuvannur from ED after the elections,” Satheesan asked.
He repeated the Congress’ allegation that the central agencies have been going soft on the cases against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan as part of a nexus between the CPM and the BJP. He accused the CPM of helping BJP state president K Surendran escape from the Kodakara Hawala case and Manjeswar bribery case. He said the government paved the way for Surendran to escape the Manjeswar bribe scam by delaying the charge-sheet. “Usually, when there is a delay in filing charge-sheet in a case, the government files a delay petition. In Surendran’s case, the prosecution was careful not to file such a plea. The government has saved Surendran from two crucial cases,” Satheesan said.
