Kodiyeri Balakrishnan steps aside as CPI(M) secretary in Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram: In a major political development in the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala ahead of the local body polls, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan on Friday stepped aside as secretary, the highest office within the party at the state level, days after his son was arrested by the ED in a money laundering case linked to a drugs case in Bengaluru.
While the CPI(M) in a statement after the secretariat today maintained that Balakrishnan, who is also a Polit Bureau member, had sought leave for further treatment which had been accepted, the leader of opposition in the state assembly Ramesh Chennithala dubbed the move as a delayed dawning of wisdom.
The Congress and BJP have demanded that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan should also quit taking a cue from Balakrishnan.
The ruling LDF has been facing heat following a string of allegations from the Gold Smuggling case, alleged corruption in the Wadakkanchery Life mission project, and the questioning and subsequent arrest of Balakrishnan's son, Bineesh by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Central committee member M V Govindan said Balakrishnan had sought leave as he wanted to undergo further treatment and the party secretariat had accepted his plea and granted permission to go on leave.
LDF convener A Vijayaraghavan has been given the charge of state secretary, he said.
Asked how long Balakrishnan would be on leave, Govindan said that would depend on the treatment.
On queries relating to Bineesh's arrest, the veteran leader said Balakrishnan has already spoken about matters relating to his son and that will not affect the party in any way.
Sixtyseven-year-old Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, a five-time MLA from Thalassery in Kannur district, was first appointed as party secretary on February 23, 2015, for three years and subsequently a second term in 2018.
He has also served as Home and Tourism Minister in the V S Achuthanandan ministry.
For the Left Democratic Front (LDF), the development comes at a most inopportune time as the three-phased local body polls are commencing from December 8 and hectic preparations are on to garner the maximum number of seats in the polls, seen as a litmus test ahead of the assembly elections next year.
Balakrishnan considered the second most strong man in the party after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has been undergoing treatment for cancer for some time.
Though he has gone on treatment earlier also, this is the first time that Balakrishnan has decided to step aside as secretary.
In an embarrassment to the Left Party, the Enforcement Directorate in Bengaluru had arrested Bineesh, Balakrishnan's younger son, on October 29 in a money laundering case linked to a drug seizure in Karnataka.
The central agency had alleged that Bineesh had a close connection with drug peddler Mohammed Anoop arrested by them and the hotel, Anoop was operating in Bengaluru, was Bineesh's Benami property.
The probe agency had also charged Bineesh with transferring huge amounts of money into Anoop's bank account.
Since Bineesh was taken into custody by the central agency, opposition parties have been up in arms clamoring for Balakrishnan's resignation.
Kanam Rajendran, Secretary of CPI, a major ally of the LDF, refused to comment on the matter, saying it was the internal issue of the Marxist party.
Congress leaders, Ramesh Chennithala and Oommen Chandy said the decision should have been taken much earlier.
"Even though it was too late, the decision was apt," Chandy, who is also former chief minister, said.
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Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
