Hand over second Marad riots probe to CBI: VS

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan has demanded that the State Security Commission should be convened immediately and the probe into the second Marad riots should be handed over to the CBI.Lashing out at Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and the UDF Government at a news conference here on Saturday, VS said that the decision to change the head of the Marad riots case probe team should be revoked and exert pressure on the Centre for a CBI probe and bring out the conspiracy behind the riots.Even the High Court had asked the government to explain the necessity for such a change, he said and asked whether it was effected when accusing fingers started pointing to a few in the UDF.“The decision of the previous LDF Government to go in for a CBI probe was torpedoed by the UDF Government,” he charged.The Opposition Leader also came down heavily on the Chandy Government in the e-mail snooping controversy as well as the conflicting opinion of ministers and sought a clarification whether Power Minister Aryadan Mohammed’s stand that a case would be slapped on the weekly which brought out the details of targeting Muslims and also his views on Jamaat-e-Islami was the official stand of the government.Aryadan’s stand is different from that of Chandy and the Cabinet, VS said.“The issue is that majority of the 268 persons whose emails were scrutinised were Muslims and was facilitated by the UDF Government at the instance of American agencies,” he said. “It was conducted with the knowledge of the Chief Minister,” he charged. “If the findings in the scrutiny are true, legal action should be taken. If not, the government should tender an apology,” he said.Achuthanandan reiterated that if a proper probe was conducted into the users of luxury cars provided by Alex Joseph, the COFEPOSA detenue behind the illegal imports, the links of those who had helped him to evade the police dragnet and avail of his passport could be traced.On many cases the police under the UDF Government had been a hapless and demoralised lot, he said. “I’ve written to the Chief Minister to convene the State Security Commission to discuss the nagging issues related to the proper functioning of the local police,” he said.