KANNUR: With Advocate TP Hareendran reiterating his allegations and former DySP P Sukumaran, who had led the investigation in the Ariyil Shukkur murder case, denying the involvement of IUML leader P K Kunhalikutty, the controversy revolving around the death of Shukkur has reached a stage where the equations between Congress and Muslim League seem to have worsened.
“I was in charge of the investigation. I had not sought the opinion of Hareendran regarding this. Neither had I discussed the matter with him. I have not heard anything regarding the involvement or interference of Kunhalikutty in the case. I don’t think that Kunhalikutty was involved in a conspiracy to scuttle the case,” said Sukumaran.
“The investigation of the case has been completed by the CBI and it is not fair to discuss the details of the case now,” Sukumaran said. Meanwhile, Hareendran, reiterated his stand on Thursday also, saying that he had raised the allegation not at the behest of any other person. “I have no need to become the megaphone of some other person. I have done this on my own,” he said.
“The denial of Sukumaran is because of his limitations. Kunhalikutty had not shown political morality in the case. His involvement in the case was part of the give and take policy in politics,” Hareendran said.
“State Congress president called me and said that I should not have made such an allegation,” he said.
CPM Kannur district secretary M V Jayarajan too joined the issue, saying that the allegation of Hareendran justifies the CPM stand regarding the case. “Right from the beginning, we had said that CPM had no role in the murder. Now, from the allegation of Hareendran, it has come to light that political interference was there to harass CPM leaders in the case,” said Jayarajan.
The allegation raised by Hareendran has already antagonised the Muslim League state leadership and they believe that the allegation has come up at the wrong time with the wrong intentions. Since no top leaders in the Congress from the district or state have come up denying the allegations of Hareendran, they believe that it is part of a larger conspiracy to put their top leader under a shadow.