KANNUR: Causing more embarrassment to the CPM, a foreign-returned building owner committed suicide after the party-ruled Anthoor Municipality allegedly denied ownership certificate for an auditorium he had built at Nelliyottu near Kuttikkol, spending crores of rupees.
The police said Parayil Sajan, 49, MD of Partha Builders, was found hanging at his house in Kottali near here around 6 am on Tuesday.
He had complained that municipal chairperson P K Shyamala (wife of CPM central committee member M V Govindan), secretary and engineer kept denying him the ownership certificate. Though the police did not confirm it, the relatives said Sajan wrote a letter blaming the trio for his death. They are also planning to put up a siege in front of the municipal office with Sajan’s mortal remains.
The allegation against the municipality, presently ruled by a council comprising only LDF representatives, has put the CPM on the back foot. Sajan had spent Rs 15 crore for building the auditorium, but municipality issued a notice to him saying its construction was not foolproof. He approached the CPM district committee, which advised the municipality to conduct an inspection by experts before taking a final decision.
An inspection was conducted by the town planning officer and work was allowed to continue. Sajan completed it and approached the municipality for the certificate, but officers delayed the process.
Sajan’s friends said he was thoroughly disappointed with the attitude of the municipal officers. He told them there was no option for him but to commit suicide if he was not able to open the auditorium.
Municipality denies allegations
Municipal chairperson PK Shyamala denied the allegations. “The municipality had nothing personal against Sajan. He was asked to make only some technical corrections in the structure,” said Shyamala. DCC president Satheeshan Pacheni has demanded a high-level investigation into the suicide.