“This is a political vendetta. Inquiry revealed that the assets possessed by them are the benami of Babu”, the FIR said.
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“He (Babu) also invested ill-gotten money for the benami business with one Mohanan, Royal Bakers, Thrippunithura”. It is learnt that another locker belonging to Babu’s elder daughter, with Ponnurunni branch of Union Bank of India, will be inspected on Tuesday.
The businessmen said they were not anxious about the vigilance probe and would offer full cooperation to the investigators.
Babu represented Tripunithura constituency for the past 25 years.
In the first 100 days of his government, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has made it clear he means to weed out corruption from the state.
Babu had come under severe pressure when he was the Excise Minister in the Chandy cabinet after Biju Ramesh, a bar owner, had alleged that he himself had bribed Babu at his office. He said Babu used his auto sometimes.
The vigilance had confiscated some documents of the land dealings in Theni from Babu’s house in the raid held.
Thomas said that his priority was to end corruption and things were going in the proper way.
The questioning was part of the raid conducted at the residences of the alleged benamis of K Babu and his relatives. He said he knew Babu as the local legislator. “A lot had happened during Babu’s term as minister”.
Thomas was shunted out of Vigilance under Chandy’s regime.
Babu, who had a controversial stint as Excise Minister in the previous Oommen Chandy-led UDF government, had resigned after a Thrissur vigilance court ordered the Vigilance Department to register an FIR against him in the bar bribery scam.
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Chandy, meanwhile, said he was willing to face any probe, but if nothing came out of the witch hunt then the state government should take action against “such” officials.
