Kochi: The Kerala High Court has served an ultimatum on the state government to complete the investigation into the controversial land deals at Kottakambur near Munnar in Idukki district in the next two months. If the probe is stretched any further, the case will be handed over to some other agency, the court said on Wednesday as the police sought more time for completing the probe.
The court asked the counsel for the investigation agency to complete the probe and submit a report by March 10. The court had earlier granted one month to the government to complete the investigation in the land deals in which many prominent persons, including Mr Joice George MP from Idukki, have been accused of amassing land by fraudulent means.
The police failed in completing the probe within the time-frame forcing the court to issue an ultimatum. The counsel for the government submitted that the statement of tribal people under section 164 was being recorded in the Thodupuzha court and that the final report can be prepared only after the completion of this process.
The Kottkambur land deals have snowballed into a major political controversy with many of the persons having close connections with the ruling CPM facing allegations of conniving with encroachers in the region. Allegations were also raised that power of attorney has been widely misused for appropriating the land allocated to the landless persons belonging to scheduled tribe and scheduled caste communities.
Among the prime accused in the land deals are Mr Joice George and his family members. Kottakambur is an area bordering the Kurinji national park spread over Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
