By TwoCircles.net Staff Correspondent
Chennai: After the arrest of party chairman Abdunnasir Maudany, Kerala’s People’s Democratic Party is now in another trouble. CK Abdul Azeez, chairman of the party’s policy-making committee, was yesterday jailed in Mathura in Tamil Nadu. He was arrested by the CBI from Bengaluru on Friday night in a bank fraud case and presented in a court in the city on Saturday morning. The arrest was as per a warrant issued by the Mathura court in 2008, according to reports. He was taken to Mathura on Saturday night and remanded at the CBI Court. Lawyers from Kerala have reportedly reached Mathura to file a bail plea for him today.
Mr Azeez is accused in a bank fraud case in which Rs 86 lakhs were amassed using the Demand Draft books stolen from the Ghatkopar East branch of the Bank of Maharashtra and the DN Road branch of the Bank of India in Mumbai. The fraud was done with the cooperation of certain bank employees also. A case was registered in Maharashtra accusing nine persons including Azeez. CBI took over the case in 1994 and submitted chargesheet in 1998. Six accused including bank employees have completed their punishment in the case. Azeez and two men from Mumbai were declared absconding.
Azeez was interrogated by CBI officials who reportedly claim to have found more details about the case. Azeez has reportedly said that he had not taken the money, but others accused had. The CBI claims that it couldn’t catch Azeez as he was hiding in Dubai, according to reports. A CBI official recognized him when he was being interviewed in an English news channel with regard to the Maudany case last month. The CBI team from Chennai then arrested Azeez from Bengaluru.
The arrest of Azeez has come as a big blow to the PDP as he was in the front to take care of the court procedures including the bail plea of the party chairman Abdunnasir Maudany, who is now in Bengaluru jail in connection with the 2008 Bengaluru blast case. Azeez was staying in the city since the chargesheet naming Maudany was filed in the Bengaluru court, taking care of the anticipatory bail plea and other matters.
The PDP leadership accuse that the sudden arrest of Azeez, who has been active in the public field since 1994 when he joined the party, in a case registered 16 years ago is a planned conspiracy. They also doubt that the arrest is solely aimed at removing Azeez from working with Maudany’s cases.
Abdul Azeez was earlier in the PDP central committee and then became state general secretary. He also served as the party’s working chairman for three years since 2003 when Maudany was in jail. His name too was heard among the possible candidates in the Ponnani constituency in the last Lok Sabha elections. He was active in the campaigns for the LDF candidate when the PDP supported the LDF. He is now reportedly serving as the coordinator of the Maudany Legal Aid Cell.