By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : The Congress-led opposition Friday staged a walk out of the Kerala assembly over the alleged failure of the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) to curb terror activities in the state.
Congress legislator K. Babu, seeking leave for adjournment motion, said the CPI-M is trying to shield People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief Abdul Maudany, who is accused of having terror links and was exonerated in 2007 as the prime accused in the 1998 Coimbatore bomb blast case. He was in jail for nearly a decade as an under-trial.
After his release, Maudany had openly supported and campaigned for the CPI-M-led Left Democratic Front during the general elections in May. He shared the stage with many Left leaders, except for Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan.
“Police investigations have now revealed that the south Indian head of Lashkar-e-Toiba is Nazir. And Maudany’s wife, Sufiya Maudany, was the local guardian of Nazir’s daughter. While Nazir is at large, his associate Abdul Halim, who was arrested by the police early this week, has revealed his links with Maudany,” said Babu.
Halim was arrested July 22 and confessed to his role in the twin bomb blasts in Kozhikode in 2006. Halim has admitted that he was Maudany’s body guard for three years, Kochi police Commissioner Manoj Abraham said Wednesday.
Police said Halim confessed that the four Malayalis shot dead in Jammu and Kashmir in September last year were his associates.
State Law Minister M. Vijayakumar, replying to the motion, said the Left Front government is not shielding Maudany.
“We are in no way committed to protecting Maudany. It was only recently that police has questioned Maudany and his wife. You should not forget that it is when we are in power, police have found new leads to several blasts that took place when you were ruling the state,” said Vijayakumar.
Leader of Opposition Oommen Chandy, before leading the walk out, said: “The central government had given you warnings about the increased presence of terrorists and you did not act on it. The only person who is now happy from your side is Achuthanandan because he strongly opposed tie up with Maudany.”
Reacting to the events in the assembly, Maudany said he challenged the Congress-led United Democratic Front to prove his alleged links with terrorists.
“In the past five years, the PDP has had no connection with Halim or any such people. Several people, who were with us in the past, have gone to other parties and other places,” Maudany told a TV channel.