Bid on Jayarajan: Cops record Prasanth Babu’s statement

The police recorded the statement of Prasanth Babu, local Congress leader and former driver of K Sudhakaran MP, on the disclosures made by him concerning the involvement of Sudhakaran in the attempt to murder CPM leader E P Jayarajan and other violent incidents that took place in the district.

The police took the statement of Prasanth Babu as he reached the office of the District Superintendent of Police on Monday afternoon to inform the police authorities that he would not like to accept the special protection offered to him. However, the District Police Chief did not accept his decision.

Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan too had said on Sunday that the government had offered police security to Prasanth but he rejected the offer.

The Home Minister had also stated that the reason for Prasanth’s decision was not known.

The reason Prasanth cited  was that as a public worker he would not like to be escorted by policemen and live in the shadow of police security.

The police authorities, however, refused to accept his contention and sent two cops along with him when he went out of the office, even as his statement was being recorded.

Prasanth had also alleged that K Sudhakaran had played a significant role in the bomb attack on the Savory Hotel at the Yogasala Road here that resulted in the death of a CPM worker, and the attack on the Cooperative Press that followed the election to the director-board of AKG Memorial Cooperative Hospital more than a decade ago.

The decision of the police to record the statement of Prasanth Babu has assumed significance in the wake of the Home Minister’s announcement that a special investigation team would probe the allegations levelled against Sudhakaran.