The Munnar police on Thursday registered a case against the president and secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)]-controlled Munnar Service Cooperative Bank at Munnar, Idukki, over the alleged illegal construction of an amusement park by the bank.
According to Munnar Deputy Superintendent of Police (Dy.SP) Alex Baby, the case was registered against the bank president and CPI(M) Idukki district secretariat member K.V. Sasi and bank secretary Rani D. Nair under Section 188 (disobedience to an order lawfully promulgated by a public servant) of the IPC based on a letter by Devikulam tahsildar demanding that a case be registered against those carrying out the construction by violating a Revenue department order.
Stop memo issued
Mr. Sasi said the bank had stopped all construction activities inside the amusement park area. “We did not construct anything inside the park and only ensured the functioning of the rides,” said Mr. Sasi.
The Revenue department had recently issued a stop memo for the construction works of the park located near the Muthirapuzha river. A department source said the bank had submitted an affidavit before the High Court stating that no construction activities would be taken up inside the amusement park area. “The court also directed the village officer to monitor any construction taken up on the land,” said the source.
CPI(M) public meeting
On March 12, the CPI(M) held a public meeting for the ‘protection’ of the park. After the meeting, the bank decided to proceed with the construction. Udumbanchola MLA M.M. Mani said the party would complete the construction ‘at any cost.’ Following the incident, the Idukki administration submitted a report to the High Court stating that the bank was going ahead with the construction works by violating the department order and stop memo.
On February 9, an order issued by Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue) A. Jayathilak had rejected a proposal by the bank for the construction of the park on four acres of land taken on lease from the KSEB in 2017. Last year, Congress leader Rajaram had moved the High Court against the bank’s proposal. The court directed the then District Collector to submit a report. The Collector submitted a letter to the court and requested the government take a decision on the matter. The court then directed the Revenue department to consider the proposal by the bank.
