Job fraud charges: Kerala CM says conspiracy made against Health Minister's office

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday came down heavily against the allegations cropped up against Health Minister Veena George's office and said that a clear conspiracy was behind it and the media reports in this regard were part of the plot.

The attempt was to project a falsehood as truth and the method of the conspirators was to hide the facts and create a smokescreen, he said.

But the allegations didn't survive long and the mastermind of the alleged job fraud was caught red-handed by the police, he said while speaking in a programme organised by the LDF mandalam committee at Dharmadom here.

The chief minister's remarks came a day after Akhil Sajeev, the suspected kingpin in the alleged job fraud and bribery case in the Kerala Health department, was caught by the state police from Theni in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

The bribery allegations, which cropped up against a personal staff of the health minister, triggered a huge row in the southern state recently.

"False stories were made against the health department, which was functioning in a flawless manner in the state," the chief minister said.

The allegation was that a key person in the office was involved in corruption but the story became a flop as soon as it came to light that he was not in Thiruvananthapuram on the day mentioned in the complaint, he further said.

It was neither the first nor the last but lies would continue to come, the chief minister added.

It has now become clear that a conspiracy was made against the Health Minister's office and the news reports with regard to the alleged job fraud incident were part of the plot, he added.

Vijayan also accused the opposition Congress of adopting a 'soft' approach towards the Sangh Parivar and criticised it for not having a strong stand against it at the national level.

Meanwhile, the interrogation of Akhil Sajeev, whose arrest was recorded on Friday by Pathanamthitta police, is continuing, official sources said.

Sajeev had been absconding ever since bribery charges cropped up against a personal staff member of Health Minister Veena George for the appointment of a medical officer recently.

The Health Minister's office had rejected the allegations against the personal staff member, Akhil Mathew, and lodged a complaint with the Thiruvananthapuram city police, seeking a detailed probe into it.

Sajeev, also accused in another fraud case being investigated by the police, is a former office secretary of CITU, the trade union wing of the CPI(M), in Pathanamthitta.

The alleged job fraud, in connection with appointments under the health department, came up recently after Haridasan, a Malappuram native, charged that Mathew, personal staff member of the health minister, accepted a bribe from him for the appointment of his daughter-in-law as a medical officer.

The Thiruvananthapuram city police had arrested M K Raees, a resident of Kozhikode, two days ago in connection with the case.

He was arrested for allegedly creating a fake email id related to temporary appointments in the Ayush Mission, police said.

Haridasan had alleged that a personal staff member of the minister accepted Rs 1 lakh as a bribe for the appointment of his daughter-in-law as a government medical officer.

Haridasan had further charged that a former office secretary of CITU in Pathanamthitta, who allegedly acted as a middleman, had also accepted a bribe for the said appointment. However, his daughter-in-law didn't get the job.

As the allegations triggered a huge political row in the state, Mathew approached the police, seeking a probe into the matter.

The police registered an FIR under IPC Sections 419 and 420 (cheating) based on the complaint by Mathew. PTI LGK KH