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Uneasy Questions
A story
beamed by a private TV channel accusing a Kerala minister in a hawala
scam raises a political storm, besides undermining the integrity of the
media.
A story flashed
by the private satellite channel Surya TV of the Sun group accusing a
state minister in a multi-crore hawala scam has now snowballed into a
scandal in its own right.
At the core of the controversy is a "confidential letter" allegedly
sent by the state director general of police (intelligence) which the
channel used to support its story. The letter, which it turn out was forged,
was allegedly sent to the chief minister's secretary in which state Tourism
and Fisheries Minister K.V. Thomas was implicated in a scam related to
a telegraphic transfer of Rs 330 crore through four Kerala banks from
a single account in a Mumbai branch of the Lord Krishna Bank. The money
was allegedly meant for terrorist outfits.
While the matter is being investigated at the central level, a veritable
political storm is brewing in the state. Surya's reporter Anil Nambiar,
who was was arrested in this connection by the police, alleges that it
was a Congress (I) legislator—Sobhana George—who had given him
the controversial letter. George belongs to the faction loyal to K. Karunakaran
and rumours are rife that names of some more prominent leaders of the
camp may be out soon in this context.
According to insiders in the party, Thomas was made a target for having
crossed over to the A.K. Antony camp. Investigation has been ordered by
a vigilance court into two other cases related to graft which were filed
recently against Thomas by alleged Karunakaran loyalists. Making things
murkier is the "official seal" of the police headquarters at
Thiruvananthapuram in the letter, raised suspicions about the involvement
of the police.
Chief Minister A.K. Antony has dubbed the incident as a deep conspiracy
to unseat his Government. "At whatever cost we will bring before
law whoever was behind the forgery," he told AICC President Sonia
Gandhi twhile apprising her of the developments. Antony also said that
a section in the party was mounting pressure on him to give the Home portfolio.
"Their dreams won't come true," he said.
As a pre-emptive strike, Karunakaran led a nine-member delegation of loyalists
to Delhi to complain to the high command about alleged persecution by
the police. "We are being seen as enemies by the police. We never
experienced this even when the CPI(M) was in power," says George.
But Sonia initisally refused to meet them and they had to make do with
an interface with Ambika Sonia, party general secretary in charge of Kerala.
Two days later, however, Sonia granted the delegation a few minutes under
pressure from KPCC President K. Muralidharan. The delegation by then quite
chastised, refrained from levelling personal charges against Antony and
confined to making allegations about "misrule by bureaucrats".
"We brought to her attention that the party has become irrelevant
in the state which is now being run by bureaucrats," said P.P. Thankachan,
KPCC vice-president and Karunakaran camp leader. "She assured us
that she would look into the complaints".
Meanwhile, as investigation into the case of alleged forgery continued,
a case was filed against Nambiar who reported the story and raids conducted
on Surya's studio. This triggered a series of wisespread protests from
the media. Nambiar went underground after he was denied anticipatary bail
by the court. After a month in hybernation, he surrendered before the
DGP last week. During interrogation, he told the police that George had
told him about the explosive letter and asked him if he would be interested
in having a copy. When he evinced interest later, he received a call from
an anonymous caller had claimed to be a police deputy superintendent.
He was told that the letter would arrive at Surya's office soon. "I
never suspected the veracity of the document," said Nambiar.
George, however denies the volley of charges against her. "I am completely
innocent. I never talked to Nambiar. This is a huge conspiracy hatched
by the police to retaliate against my speeches in the assembly against
their highhandedness," she says.
The special investigation team is questioning more journalists and also
some businessmen alleged to have played a role in the affair. "More
evidence is being collected," says a top police officer.
Significantly, the alleged over-enthusiasm showed by an additional DGP
close to Karunakaran in the case too has raised eyebrows. Immediately
after Nambiar testified against George, the officer reportedly started
abusing and threatening the reporter which led to an agitation by journalists.
"Unless he is kept out of the case, real culprits won't be booked,"
charges K. Kunhikkannan, president, Kerala Working Journalists Union.
Clearly, charges and counter-charges are flying thick. What the truth
is and whether it prevails remains to be seen.
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