The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Deshabhimani case: Vigilance report rejected

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Thursday, Jul 03, 2008
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Deshabhimani case: Vigilance report rejected

Staff Reporter

Thiruvananthapuram: An anti-corruption court here has directed the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) to reinvestigate the allegation that the top management of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) organ, Deshabhimani, had accepted money from “tainted” businessmen facing investigation in various criminal cases.

Vigilance Inquiry Commissioner and Special Judge S. Jagadis rejected a VACB report which stated that there was no evidence to prosecute Deshabhimani general manager E.P. Jayarajan and deputy general manager Venugopal. The report was submitted by Superintendent of Police, VACB, Sree Sugan.

President of the Indian Lawyer’s Congress P. Rahim had filed a petition before the court last year accusing Mr. Jayarajan and Mr. Venugopal of accepting large amounts of money from lottery businessman Santiago Martin and owner of LIS (a financial institution) in the name of Deshabhimani development fund.

The petitioner said both the businessmen were facing investigation on charges of cheating and financial fraud.

Orders reinvestigation

The judge said the report submitted by the VACB was incomplete and the investigators had not bothered to verify the conflicting and contradictory statements given by various parties involved in the case. It ordered the VACB director to reinvestigate the case.

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