At a hurriedly convened news conference, Mr. Balakrishnan termed the allegation ridiculous and alleged that publication of the edited audio clips was the handiwork of ‘an IPS officer with links in Andhra Pradesh.’ Simultaneously, Mr. Ramesh was on TV channels challenging the government to come out with the unedited version of the audio clips.
Mr. Balakrishnan too felt that the master CD should be published in full and that there should be a comprehensive inquiry into the contents of the entire CD.
Mr. Balakrishnan asked how what could not be found when Vinson M. Paul was the Vigilance Director could be found now. Superintendent of Police (Vigilance) R. Sukesan, who had investigated the charge against former Finance Minister K.M. Mani and initially submitted a report stating that there was ground to proceed against him, had submitted the second report giving a clean chit to Mr. Mani under duress.
The government has now decided to register a case against Mr. Sukesan to make him ineligible to be considered for conferment of IPS rank. R. Nishanthini’s report clearing Excise Minister K. Babu too was submitted under duress, he alleged.
Meanwhile, Kerala Congress (M) general secretary Antony Raju demanded immediate registration of a case against Mr. Sukesan and Mr. Ramesh for what he termed their role in the conspiracy to bring down the Oommen Chandy government.
