CPI-M leader's 'con' brother sent to judicial custody

The brother of a senior CPI-M leader in Kerala on Saturday was remanded to judicial custody for two weeks, a day after after he was arrested following complaints of cheating against him, officials said.

P. Sateeshan, brother of P. Sasi, former political secretary to the late three-time Chief Minister E.K. Nayanar, was arrested on Friday on charges of cheating, after two women approached the Casaba police station in Kozhikode to file a complaint.

The women also staged a protest and demanded a case of cheating be registered against him.

Following the complaint, a few other cases of duping others with promises of providing jobs at a state government organisation and the upcoming Kannur international airport surfaced.

On Saturday, he was presented at a court which remanded him to two weeks' judicial custody, officials said.

According to the women, Sateeshan used to impress people by pretending to talk on his mobile phone with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and other top party leaders. Through this modus operandi, he is believed to have cheated several people.

Sasi, however, has denied any relation with his brother for the past over two decades, and washed his hands off the matter.

Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Kerala secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said Sateeshan is not a CPI-M member and hence, they do not have any responsibility.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala told the media that Vijayan's name is being used by his party people to cheat people.

--IANS

sg/pgh/vm