Kozhikode: James Mathew, CPM legislator from Taliparamba constituency in Kannur district, has denied reports that he was involved in swindling Rs 75 lakh from P.V. Raju, a businessman based in Andhra Pradesh, on the promise of facilitating the sale of 2.36 acres of land at Kakkad in Kannur. The land belonged Delco, a cooperative construction company formed on the initiative of the CPM and Mathew was its founder chairman.
Cooperation Minister C.N. Balakrishnan has ordered a probe into the matter. He said that the property of a cooperative cannot be disposed of without the permission of the registrar of cooperatives.
Addressing a press conference in Kannur on Thursday, Mathew said that he had resigned as chairman of Delco in 2006 when he contested the Assembly elections from Irikkur constituency.
Raju and his friend Sakkaria, a dentist of Taliparamba, had submitted a complaint to the CPM politburo seeking action against the MLA. According to the complaint, Delco had entered into a deal with them for the sale of 2.36 acres of land under its possession at Kakkad and that Mathew played a key role in facilitating the deal.
Denying the allegations, Mathew said that he was unaware of it. The deal took place in 2010-11, five years after he stepped down as Delco chairman. “I know the people involved in the deal as I had met them as an MLA when the issue was brought to my notice by some friends who also happened to be friends of the complainants,” Mathew said. Somebody had deliberately cooked up the story, he said and added that he will take legal action against the television channel which aired the news.
He also said that if the complainants have evidence, they should approach a court of law. “I am happy that they have more faith in the leadership of my party than the court of law,” he added.
K. Surendran, Kannur district Congress committee president, has called for a probe into the matter.
