Thaindian News

Kochi, Dec 22 (IANS) The Kerala High Court Thursday asked police to complete within a month the investigation into the two-decade-old Kozhikode sex scandal case involving state minister and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader P.K. Kunhalikutty.

Appearing for the state government, Advocate General K.P. Dandapani requested the court to grant police another six weeks to complete recording of statements of 15 more witnesses.

The court said that taking statements of 15 witnesses did not need six weeks’ time and gave police four more weeks to complete the probe. The case would be heard next Jan 30, 2012.

Dandapani informed the court that 95 percent of the investigation was over and the police have so far recorded statements of 129 people and taken into possession 104 documents.

It was V.S. Achuthanandan who, as chief minister, in January this year ordered a fresh police inquiry into the case following revelations by Kunhalikutty’s relative K.A. Rauf on how Kunhalikutty managed to escape the law by allegedly influencing even the judiciary.

The case of sexual abuse of a minor girl, which allegedly involved Kunhalikutty, the current state’s industry minister, was closed by the apex court in 2006.

The alleged sex racket in the early 1990s was operated from an ice-cream parlour in Kozhikode and was named by the media the “ice cream parlour sex case”.

In January, this year Rauf made the allegation at a press conference and Achuthanandan ordered Additional Director General of Police Vinson M. Paul to conduct a fresh inquiry into the case.

On Thursday, police officials, including Paul, were present in the court.

Achuthanandan had earlier impleaded himself in the case but his demand for a CBI probe was rejected by the court in September.