By IANS
Thiruvananthapuram : Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan is all set to look into allegations of wrongdoing in a land deal for setting up a space institute in the state.
Law Minister M. Vijayakumar told reporters Sunday he is aware of the issues involved in the land deal but was yet to receive the official papers relating to it.
“The chief minister has called a meeting of various officials. It will happen in the coming days,” he added.
State Congress chief Ramesh Chennithala has demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the alleged malpractices in acquisition of forestland by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) from a private individual for setting up a research institute.
Even as a section of the media has pointed to the lack of transparency in the land deal, events took a dramatic turn a few days ago when Forest Minister Benoy Viswam admitted this in the presence of ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair.
Businessman Mano Mathew, who had purchased a 700-acre plot near the Ponmudi hill station a few years back at a throwaway price, sold 82 acres of land to ISRO to set up its institute.
What is now being asked is how and why ISRO entered into a deal with a private party.