IUML stands by Kunhalikutty after fresh case filed by police

IUML national President and Union Minister E Ahamed said the allegations levelled against Kunhalikutty were politically motivated and meant to malign the party.

"We will face it unitedly. Such ill-motivated campaigns are not going to click or come in the way of the Congress-led UDF (in which IUML is a key partner) in the assembly polls," he said after a meeting of the IUML state executive here to discuss the developments.

Senior IUML leader and Lok Sabha member, E T Muhammad Basheer said there was a concerted move to defame the party and Kunhalikutty personally by creating "bogus and fabricated" stories.

The recent revelation by Kunhalikutty that he faced a threat to his life from a relative paved the way for the row.

The League leader's relative K A Rouf not only denied the charge but went on record to say he had helped Kunhalikutty to scuttle the "Icecream parlour" sex scam case by influencing victims and witnesses to retract their statements.

Yesterday, police had registered an FIR against Kunhalikutty and Rouf on the charge of entering into a conspiracy to pressurise some victims to retract their earlier statements, which became vital in subsequent dismissal of the case.

The 'Icecream parlour case' relates to allegations that surfaced in late 1990s that an ice cream parlour in Kozhikode city was used as a cover to lure young women into sex rackets.

Kunhalikutty quit as Industries Minister in the Congress-led UDF Government in 2004 in the wake of allegations in connection with the case.

The IUML leader, however, did not figure as an accused in the case. But political rivals and women's rights outifts alleged that he had misused his position and clout to avoid facing prosecution.

IUML is a constituent in the Congess-led United Democratic Front opposition.