Kottayam:The Commu-nist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Sunday demanded arrest of Kerala’s Finance Minister K.M. Mani over the charges that he had received a Rs.1 crore bribe to re-open the closed bars in the state.
CPI-M politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said: “The vigilance should arrest Mani.” Senior Congress leader A.K. Antony and the Congress high command are fully aware of the bar graft case,he told reporters dur-ing the party meeting here.
The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau have filed a case at a special vigilance court against 81-year-old Mani over allegations that the state association of bar owners gave him a Rs.1 crore bribe to re-open the bars that were closed under the state’s new liquor policy.
Whistleblower bar owner Biju Ramesh said in October that Rs.1 crore was given to Mani as the first instalment of the Rs.5 crore he demanded for helping the reopening of the bars. Kottayam is the home district of Mani, who has won every assembly elections since 1965 from the Pala assembly constituency. (IANS)
