5 board members of Congress run trust arrested

Five board members of the Congress party-owned K Karunakaran memorial trust, which was in the news recentlyover the suspected suicide of a contractor were arrested here on Friday in an alleged cheating case.

The trust got into a controversy afterMuthupara Joseph (58) the contractor of the K Karunakaran Memorial Hospital at Cherupuzha, was found dead with his wrists slit, on the terrace of the building on September 5.

"We have arrested the director board members of the trust in a cheating case.

Kunjikrishnan Nair, Roshi, Salim, Sebastian and Sacaria are the arrested members," the investigating officer told PTI.

Police said that the cheating complaint against the board members was filed by a former board member for allegedly siphoning off the trust's funds.

The case was filed two days before the death of Joseph on September 5, police said.

Joseph's relatives had alleged that the trust, which owns the hospital building, owes him around Rs 1.34 crore and that some Congress leaders, who are the trust members, had met him on September 4 to discuss the project and the money they owed him.

The relatives had also alleged that some of the trust members had threatened him.

However, theCongress party in Kerala on September took upon itself the responsibility of repaying all the liabilities of the contractor.

The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee has also formed a panel to look into the allegations regarding corruption in its various trusts.

Meanwhile, the CPI(M) had rubbished the stand of KPCC, saying that Congress, after being caught red handed, was trying to give back the amount (to the family).

The contractor was reported missing since the evening of September 4.

His relatives had lodged a police complaint, following which a search operations were conducted, but in vain. Police said it was a suspected case of suicide.