KOZHIKODE/KANNUR: A storm is brewing in the UDF with state Congress president K Sudhakaran apparently targeting IUML strongman PK Kunhalikutty, and the League swiftly taking position to guard its national general secretary.
The IUML believes that the disclosure by Sudhakaran’s close confidant advocate T P Hareendran accusing Kunhalikutty of helping CPM leader P Jayarajan in the Ariyil Shukkoor murder case, and the Congress state chief’s reaction to it are part of a larger conspiracy to discredit the League leader.
In an interview to a TV channel on Tuesday, Hareendran claimed that a police officer in charge of the probe in the Shukkoor case, had told him that Kunhalikutty had asked the SP not to charge Section 302 of IPC (murder) against Jayarajan.
A few hours later, Hareendran reiterated his allegations in an FB post. Kunhalikutty had also asked Kannur SP to avoid conspiracy charges (102 B) in the case, he said.
Reacting to this, Sudhakaran termed the charges serious. “I have not watched the interview and have not spoken to Hareendran regarding this row. I don’t know under what circumstances he raised the allegations, but it sounds a bit serious,” said Sudhakaran.
Complete truth should be unravelled: IUML
The IUML was quick to respond. Its state acting general secretary P M A Salam demanded a detailed probe into the circumstances that led to the allegation and asserted that the issue will be raised in the next UDF meeting. “We don’t know what Sudhakaran meant when he said the allegation is serious,” Salam told reporters. Hareendran has nothing to do with the Shukkoor case. “Hareendran was not the public prosecutor in the case,” he said. “What prompted him to make the disclosure after 10 years,” Salam wondered.
Asked whether the conspiracy against Kunhalikutty was hatched within the UDF, Salam said whatever it is, the complete truth should be unravelled. It is the proximity between Hareendran and Sudhakaran that has raised the suspicion of a political conspiracy. The Congress chief has been consistently targeting the IUML because he thinks that the party under the leadership of Kunhalikutty is planning to leave the UDF to join the LDF.
His repeated pro-RSS statements have also irked the IUML. It had reacted strongly when Sudhakaran made his controversial comment on Nehru a few months back.
IUML district secretary Abdul Karim Cheleri said ever since the murder of Ariyil Shukkoor on February 20, 2012, the Muslim League has been fighting to punish the culprits in various courts, including the SC. “We have spent lakhs of rupees. Party leadership and Kunhalikutty in particular have been providing strong support for this battle to bring justice to the family of Shukkoor,” he said. “We, the Muslim League workers, know well that, why this advocate has come out with such a lie to defame one of the most respected leaders of the party,” he said.
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