Congress leader's death: CPI(M) takes out protest march to MLA office

Wayanad (Kerala): The ruling CPI(M) workers on Monday took out a protest march to the office of Congress MLA I C Balakrishnan here demanding his resignation over the recent alleged suicide of a local leader of the grand-old party and his bedridden son.

The protesters wanted a comprehensive probe into the death of Wayanad District Congress Committee treasurer and former Sultan Bathery panchayat president, N M Vijayan (78), and his son Jijesh (38) who died at Kozhikode Government Medical College Hospital on Friday.

Tension prevailed near the MLA office, located in Bathery here, for some time as the Left activists tried to jump the barricades placed by the police to block them.

Protesters, including women, raised slogans against the MLA, demanding his resignation, and urged the police to carry out a comprehensive probe into deaths.

CPI(M) Wayanad district secretary K Rafeeq and other local leaders were among those who led the protest.

Meanwhile, the Congress sources here said that I C Balakrishnan would lodge a complaint with the district police chief on the allegations raised against him.

The death of Vijayan, a prominent Congress leader in Wayanad, and his son Jijesh, a former employee of Sultan Bathery Cooperative Bank, has triggered a political row in the mountain district.

Soon after their death, allegations cropped up that Vijayan, in his capacity as the office bearer of the party, had accepted money from many who aspired to get a job in a Congress-controlled cooperative bank under the direction of MLA Balakrishnan.

There were also reports that as the promised job appointments were not given, the deceased leader recently sent a letter to the KPCC chief requesting his intervention in the matter.

Though I C Balakrishnan vehemently rejected the charges, the CPI(M) district leadership on Sunday urged the police to invoke abetment of suicide charges against him in the death of Vijayan and his son.

However, the MLA had said he would face the issue legally with the permission of the Congress party.

Balakrishnan also said that he had not seen the purported document - circulated by a section of media - reportedly signed by the deceased leader and a job aspirant which allegedly said that Rs 30 lakh was given for the appointment as directed by Balakrishnan.

Vijayan and his son Jijesh allegedly consumed poison at their home and were found by their neighbours in critical condition on Tuesday, police said.

They were initially admitted to a private hospital and later shifted to Kozhikode Medical College.