KOCHI: V A Sakeer Hussain, a one-time strongman of the CPM here, on Sunday landed in further trouble after the findings of the inquiry commission appointed by the party for probing the complaint against him for amassing wealth beyond his known sources of income were leaked. The inquiry commission came up with serious charges following the inquiry conducted against Hussain, who had been the party’s Kalamassery area secretary and district committee member.
The major charges levelled against Hussain, include purchasing five plush residences in Kalamassery in the 1ast 10 years during his tenure as area secretary -- the latest of these was a house costing R76 lakh in May 2018 -- going on foreign jaunts without obtaining prior sanction from the party. Flouting the party’s directive, Hussain flew out to Bangkok in 2016 and even hid the matter from the CPM. Later when complaints were levelled against him in this regard, Hussain claimed that he had gone to Dubai and even submitted fake travel papers to mislead the inquiry commission.
According to the report, Hussain had not obtained permission of the district committee for buying a new house and going on foreign jaunts. This despite the fact that he was well aware of this requirement. The party also found that Sakeer conducted as many as six trips to Bangkok and after his last journey he credited Rs 85 lakh in a co-operative bank in Kochi. “Sakeer bought the fifth house at Kalamassery in 2018 May amid allegations that he was frequently buying houses and properties and that it had dented the party’s image. He had availed himself of a R65 lakh loan. For the repayment of the loan on the new house and the other houses he had bought earlier, the rent from his other houses and the income of his wife were inadequate,” it said.
Since he was a CPM cadre, his amassment of wealth dented the party’s public image. Besides, he owes R1.25 crore as arrears at the Ernakulam Distrct Cooperative Bank. This amount was taken as loan by Kalamassery Auto Society, a cooperative society headed by Sakeer. The report also found severe lapses on the part of the Kalamassery area committee for granting its secretary permission to buy a house costing R76 lakh. The committee was aware that he already had four houses.
The CPM district committee meeting which met under P M Ismail on June 24 decided to suspend Hussain from the primary membership of the party for a period of six months. After the findings of the inquiry commission became known, Hussain’s attempts to return to the party after his suspension ends on December 24 have been shattered. R Gireesh Babu, an activist, had lodged a complaint before ED seeking an inquiry against Sakeer Hussain for amassing wealth.