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D Jose in Thiruvananthapuram
Congress legislator Shobhana George, who was arrested by the crime branch police in connection with the intelligence document fabrication case linking Tourism Minister K V Thomas to a Rs 3.4 billion [approximately US $70 million] hawala deal, has decided to move the high court seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation probe.
The decision is said to be at the instance of senior Congress leader K Karunakaran, who is trying to put Chief Minister A K Antony into trouble over his police policy.
Karunakaran gave this advice to the legislator from Pathanamthitta district following a discussion on the issue at a meeting of senior leaders of his faction held in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday.
Incidentally, the meeting, held in violation of the party high command's directive, has decided to send a delegation of their legislators to the chief minister with a demand for a change in the police policy as well as a reshuffle of the cabinet.
Before the meeting, Karunakaran had discussed the case with Additional Director General of Police (Crime Branch) M G A Raman, who was removed from the investigations following allegations that he had tried to shield Shobhana George and her aides.
The senior Congress leader, who had kept off the case after Antony termed it as part of a conspiracy to dislodge his government, has intervened in favour of Shobhana after successfully shielding Kerala Congress (B) leader R Balakrishna Pillai in a case related to provocative speech.
He defeated the move initiated by a section of the Congress, including his son and Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president K Muralidharan, and its numerically strong partners like the Indian Union Muslim League and the Kerala Congress (M) to expel Pillai and his party from the ruling coalition with the support of other minor partners.
Karunakaran's attempt to cement this relation with small parties, who are feeling marginalized by the United Democratic Front leadership, in order to carry out his plan to dislodge his bete noir from the chief ministership.
His supporters believe that a support to Shobhana George will ensure him the backing of the marginalized sections in the Congress as well as its partners in the UDF.
Shobhana's petition in the high court for a CBI probe into the case might also help him expose Antony's police, who have earned the wrath of not only the Karunakaran group but also several strong supporters of the chief minister.
These leaders are obviously uneasy with the freedom Antony has given to the police from political interference in not only law and order matters but also transfer of police officials.
Karunkaran, who held the home portfolio for more than a decade, including the period of the emergency, has been using the police policy as the main weapon against Antony after the Kozhikode district Congress committee president M Veerankutty, who belongs to his group, was arrested for disturbing peace.
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