Even if the threat turns out to be a hoax, the CM is under pressure from his party and its allies to shift his handpicked men from the team in Munnar.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even the Kerala Chief Minister is not safe from the fallout from the Munnar eviction drive. Soon after the CPI(M) put pressure on VS Achuthanandan to disband the team entrusted with clearing all the encroached land in Munnar, an overseas call threatening to assassinate the CM was received within 24 hours.
A caller from Saudi Arabia threatened to kill Achuthanandan in the wee hours of Monday. Thiruvananthapuram police received the call around 4 a.m. A little later, Kozhikode police got a similar call. The police have stepped up the CM’s security in the wake of the anonymous call.
“We are trying to trace the caller. But his accent sounded like he was from Thrissur,” director general of police Raman Srivastava told reporters after briefing the CM of the developments. Home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, who was in New Delhi, has requested the help of national security agencies to probe the matter.
Achuthanandan connected the threat to the eviction drive in Munnar. “The people who have been reaping profit from the encroached land may not have liked the government reclaiming its land,” he said, adding that such provocations would not alter the government’s decision.
Even if the threat turns out to be a hoax, Achuthanandan is under pressure from his party and its allies to shift his handpicked men from the team in Munnar. While the CPI(M) is not happy with special officer K Suresh Kumar, additional secretary to the chief minister, the CPI can’t stand the new Idukki district collector, Raju Narayana Swamy.
On Monday, the special team oversaw the demolition of a dozen resorts that had encroached government land including the Kochi-Madurai National Highway. Several resort owners had volunteered to chip away those parts standing on encroached land.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}