Madani row worsens; CM summons ATS head

The
controversies over the CPI(M)’s links with PDP chairman Abdul Nasser
Madani gathered momentum on Thursday with LDF Government’s Chief
Minister VS Achuthanandan summoning Deputy Inspector General TK Vinod
Kumar, head of the Kerala Police’s anti-terror squad (ATS),
investigating the cases related to the killing of four Malayalee
militants in Kashmir in October last.

The Chief Minister
summoned Vinod Kumar after reports appeared that the Home Ministry,
looked after by CPI(M)’s Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, had put a freeze on the
investigations by the ATS not to antagonise Madani to avoid
embarrassment in the polls. The CPI(M) was depending heavily on Madani
for winning Muslim votes in Ponnani and other certain other seats.

However,
Vinod Kumar, who had met Achuthanandan with Director General of Police
Jacob Punnoose, told him that there were no hindrances in the probes by
the ATS. Jacob Punnoose told the Chief Minister that the squad had come
across several crucial evidences but these could not be shared with the
media at this juncture.

Achuthanandan had on Wednesday told
newsmen that he would look into the reports about the connections of
Madani and his wife Sufiya with the militants killed in Kashmir, the
terror operatives arrested by the ATS and those who were yet to be
trapped. According to reports, the arrested militants with links to
Lashkar-e-Tayyeba and Indian Mujahiddeen had told the police that they
had been in close contact with Madani and his wife.

However,
within hours of the Chief Minister’s promise, Home Minister Kodiyeri
Balakrishnan said that there would be no new probes against Madani as
all the new reports related to old events.

The police had
known that Indian Mujahideen’s southern commandant Sainuddeen alias
Abdul Sattar, now in the custody of Karnataka Police had close contacts
with Madani and Sufiya. Sattar’s daughter Fazeela Begum had been
attending school in Kochi staying at Sufiya Madani’s house. It was also
reported that Madani had attended religious camps in Hyderabad with his
help.

School principal Suja had told the police that Fazeela’s
school records had shown Sufiya as the local guardian of the girl. But
after the search for Sainuddeen and other militants intensified, the
girl was reportedly shifted to a secret place. Mani alias Yufuf, a
Tamilian by origin and who had looked after Madani in the Coimbatore
prison, had worked in Sufiya’s shop in Ernakulam.

The police had
also learned that the four militants killed in Kashymir had earlier
celebrated Id at Sufiya’s place. The police had got several witness
depositions that Sufiya had been the source of inspiration for the
burning of Tamil Nadu bus at Kalamassery on September 9, 2005. The
allegation was that even after getting all these information, the ATS
had not been allowed to question Madani or Sufiya or to carry the probe
further.

Reports also said that the CPI(M) did not want to
disturb its relationship with Madani which would be detrimental to the
interests of the party and the LDF it led. There were allegations that
Madani was deciding several matters related to LDF’s poll strategies.
Madani was said to have proposed the name of Hussein Randathani as the
Left Independent candidate in Ponnani seat, which had also led to a
standoff between the CPI and the CPI(M).

Meanwhile, Opposition
leader Oommen Chandy asked the Chief Minister to exercise his special
powers to investigate the allegations being raised against Madani. He
said in New Delhi that the approach of Kodiyeri that even issues
related to national security were not serious should be seen seriously.

“Kodiyeri is saying that the allegations against Madani are not
new. What does he mean by that? Malayalee militants get killed in
Kashmir, a clandestine meeting takes place in Aluva and militants hold
training camp in Vagamon. But still the Home Minister does not view any
of these as new,” said Chandy.

“The Chief Minister is saying he
would look into the allegations against Madani. But the Home Minister
says there will be no inquiry. The people of Kerala want to know about
what is going to happen,” he added.