Kasargod Fort land sale haunts CPM

KOZHIKODE: The illegal sale of the 4.80-acre Kasargod Fort land has boomeranged on CPM, forcing it to approach the Vigilance on Sunday urging to conduct an impartial probe.

When the issue of the deal, allegedly with the connivance of the then State Land revenue Commissioner T.O. Sooraj surfaced, the CPM was in the forefront demanding action as the buyers included Kerala Congress (M) state secretariat member Saji Sebastian.

The party had decided to take up  e issue despite one of its member was one among the beneficiaries.

Subsequently, it conducted a protest rally to the Fort on Friday. But the latest revelation that CPM leader and former Kasargod municipal chairman, S.J. Prasad, had bought 1.24 acres of land has put the party in the dock.

According to land records, Mr Prasad had bought 91 cents for Rs 12 lakh and 33 cents for Rs 2.15 lakh while Mr Sebastian along with CPM member Gopinathan Nair and CPI member Krishnan Nair bought 2.44 acres.

The registration of all the deals was done on the same day, August 17, 2009, when the LDF was in power.

The registration shows that a cent was sold for less than Rs 10,000 when the market value of land in Kasargod is around five lakh.

It is estimated that Rs 25 crore worth government land has been sold through dubious means.

The sagging CPM in the district had found an excellent opportunity in the issue by targeting the state-level leader of Kerala Congress before skeletons started tumbling out.

Mr Prasad is also the president of the CPM-controlled Kasargod Cooperative Bank. Following this, the BJP district committee alleged that CPM leader C.H. Kunjambu had brokered the deal. The CPM Kasargod Area Committee approached the Vigilance for probe on Sunday.