Ruckus in Kerala Assembly over alleged fraud by leader's son

Thiruvananthapuram - The chaos was over a media report alleging that Benoy Balakrishnan had committed Dh7 million fraud with a Dubai-based company.

The Kerala Assembly on Thursday witnessed ruckus as the opposition Congress strongly took up the issue of alleged fraud committed by CPI-M state Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan's son in Dubai.
Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala, raising the issue on the floor of the House, slammed the ruling Left party's "lavish style of living".
"It's very strange and surprising that while the CPI-M special plenum clearly pointed out that Communists should live very modestly, and we recently saw the party ousting an MP because he was using an expensive pen and an iPhone. But today we hear of this fraud done by the CPI-M state secretary's son, which has become a cause of shame for the Kerala diaspora. We demand a probe by the state government," said Chennithala.
The treasury benches stood up and tried to shout down Chennithala, but were strongly countered by the opposition bench legislators.
The chaos was over a media report alleging that Benoy Balakrishnan, the son of Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, had committed Rs 13 crore (Dh7 million) fraud with a Dubai-based company.
A three-page letter, dated January 5, from H.I.A.Al Marzooqi, sponsor of the Dubai company which was made available to the media states that he has started legal procedures against Binoy for the alleged fraud.
The issue has become the cause of a major headache for the CPI-M in Kerala.
However, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has shot down the demand for a probe stating that "these are only news reports".
"These are nothing but baseless allegations and no probe can be undertaken," said Vijayan.
In no mood to give up, Chennithala said "As per the letter written by the complainant who has been cheated of Rs 13 crore they have sought a probe by the Interpol to extradite the son of Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, and it's surprising that the state government is not prepared to undertake at least a fact finding probe."
Vijayan stood his ground and rejected the demand for a probe, after which Chennithala staged a walk out with the entire opposition.
State BJP general secretary A.N. Radhakrishnan told the media on Thursday that they have demanded a probe by the Enforcement Department and a complaint has been sent.
In the letter, the BJP has demanded that a probe is necessary against the alleged business dealings of the two sons of Kodiyeri Balakrishnan. The party has also said that the channel of transferring the Rs 13 crore ( Dh7 million) should be checked as it could have come through the hawala way.
Marzooqi, the complainant, is reported to have reached Delhi early this week and is meeting various people. He is expected to reach the Kerala capital to pursue the matter.
CPI-M politburo member S. Ramachandran Pillai told the media that the party has no role in this case.
"This is an issue between two parties who are into business, and this happened in Dubai. Our party has no role in it to take a decision," said Pillai.

• India