THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Following the go-ahead from the government, the Vigilance on Saturday registered a First Information Report against Azhikode MLA, KM Shaji in the graft case against him. The FIR registered before the Thalassery vigilance court at 11 .30am is based on a complaint lodged by K Padmanabhan, president of Kannur Block panchayat, in 2017.
According to the FIR, the preliminary investigation proved that Shaji had collected the money from the school though the school manager denied it. A Vigilance source said the probe team found merit in the complaint and Shaji will be interrogated soon.
The case will be investigated by a team led by V Madhusoodanan, DySP, Vigilance Kannur unit. P C Sajeevan, SP, Vigilance Kozhikode Range, will oversee the probe. The Vigilance recorded the statement of the person who witnessed the transaction between the school management and K M Shaji. An examination of the accounts revealed that a sum of `125 lakh was marked as payment to Shaji.
Chennithala shoots off letter to Speaker
T’Puram: Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala has shot off a letter to Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan stating that he doesn’t have any right to give permission for a Vigilance probe against IUML MLA K M Shaji. Chennithala has also demanded that the speaker should withdraw his permission. He said the speaker has no right to recommend action against Shaji as he is an elected legislator. Hence, Sreeramakrishnan is taking the liberty to recommend there is no harm in demanding a Vigilance probe against Shaji. Chennithala urged him to withdraw his recommendation before the LDF government