Kalpetta: Acting on the request of the district police chief, the police department on Wednesday decided to hand over the 'Bribe for Job' scam to the State Crime Branch. The police headquarters issued the order in this regard.

The Crime Branch will also investigate the alleged financial irregularities in connection with the recruitment of employees to various district cooperative banks.

The Sulthan Bathery police have registered two cases based on two complaints by VK Sayooj, a native of Pulppalli, and Pathrose, a native of Nenmeni. They said they had given bribes to to top five Congress leaders including DCC president ND Appachan, former DCC president and present MLA IC Balakrishnan and former DCC treasurer KK Gopinathan.

Sulthan Bathery DySP Abdul Shereef, the investigation officer, said the request to hand over the case to the Crime Branch was forwarded from the district to the DGP as the case involved financial irregularities and high-level corruption, which requires the expertise and focussed investigation of an exclusive agency.

He said that, unlike police, which has to look after day-to-day law and order issues, the Crime Branch can dedicate more time and resources to probing the case.

Hearing on the bail petition
Senior Congress leaders Gopinathan, Balakrishnan and Appachan have not attended public programmes in the district since the controversy broke out following the death by suicide of DCC treasurer NM Vijayan. Though in a voice note he sent to a media house, Balakrishnan claimed that he was away in Karnataka to attend a marriage, it is believed that he and other leaders are absconding, fearing arrest.

On Wednesday, the District Sessions Court considered the anticipatory bail petitions moved by Congress leaders. The court will continue to hear the pleas on Thursday.