Cong criticises Ker CM's ''silence'' over numerous calls from jail by murder convict

Kannur (Ker): The Congress on Tuesday criticised Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over his “silence” regarding the allegedly numerous calls made by a notorious criminal, serving a life term for the murder of a rebel Marxist leader in 2012, from Viyur central jail, saying such convicts were being treated as “guests of the state.”

KPCC President K Sudhakaran told reporters that there was no point in raising the issue with the CM or the government as the administration was acting ”blind and deaf” in relation to this issue, which has been widely reported and discussed.

He was referring to the recent controversy over numerous phone calls being allegedly made by Kodi Suni, convicted and awarded life term for hacking to death Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) founder T P Chandrasekharan.

Sudhakaran, the Lok Sabha MP from Kannur, said such instances of prisoners making numerous calls from inside jails was happening with the active knowledge and support of the state and therefore, there was no point in complaining about it to the government.

Such complaints can only be made to someone who has some amount of “self respect” or “shame”

He said if the Chief Minister has any shame, he should respond to the issue and inform the general public as to what he proposes to do.

“However, the CM reacts or responds according to his wish and that is not an admirable quality, according to us,” Sudhakaran said

“Can there be discrimination among prisoners in jail? People will want to know that,” the KPCC president added.

He alleged that whichever jail Suni is lodged in, he acts as the Superintendent there, decides the menu to be served to him and is provided all the comforts and facilities, including mobile phones, to make calls.

The opposition, on several occasions, has criticised the state government over the repeated paroles granted to the convicts in the T P Chandrasekharan murder case.

Chandrasekharan, a firebrand local leader who broke away from the CPI(M), was hacked to death in 2012 by political goons allegedly hired by the Marxist party.

As per the post-mortem report, Chandrasekharan, popularly known as TP among his admirers, had received 51 hack injuries on his body, making it one of the most brutal political murders in the history of Kerala.

His widow, K K Rema, is an RMP MLA in the state assembly.

She won the assembly polls this year from Vadakara constituency in Kozhikode district with the support of Congress-led UDF.