The Sulthan Bathery police have charge-sheeted I.C. Balakrishnan, MLA, and three other Indian National Congress leaders in connection with the unnatural death of Wayanad District Congress Committee (DCC) treasurer N.M. Vijayan, 78, and his son Jijesh, 38.
The two died reportedly after consuming poison on December 27, 2024.
According to the special squad that probed the case, Vijayan had written a letter to his elder son and Congress leaders in the State before his death. In the letter, he had mentioned that Mr. Balakrishnan and others collected funds from several candidates promising them jobs in cooperative banks that were under Congress control in the district, but failed to provide them appointments. After they failed to receive postings, the candidates demanded that the money be returned. The police said this put Vijayan under pressure of repayment, forcing him to resort to the extreme measure.
The four accused named in the chargesheet are Mr. Balakrishnan, former DCC president N.D. Appachan, and Congress leaders K.K. Gopinathan and P.V. Balachandran. The chargesheet was submitted before the Sulthan Bathery Judicial First Class Magistrate Court on Thursday (October 23, 2025). All the four had previously secured anticipatory bail in the case.
The case was investigated under a special squad led by Deputy Superintendent of Police K.K. Abdul Shareef. He submitted thecharge sheet with the statements of over 100 witnesses. The major finding of the police was that Vijayan had financial liabilities to the tune of ₹1.5 crore. A set of digital evidence related to the telephone conversations of Vijayan and his bank transactions was also submitted to the court.
Another case
A few days ago, the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau registered a separate case against Mr. Balakrishnan over an alleged corruption incident dating back to 2015. The case was related to his suspected involvement in accepting ₹6 lakh to facilitate a job appointment at Sulthan Bathery Primary Coooperative Agricultural and Rural Development Bank.
Meanwhile, Mr. Balakrishnan denied all allegations claiming that the documents cited in the case were fabricated. He also sought an impartial investigation into the incident. In the wake of the fresh case, the Opposition parties and prominent leaders also called for a thorough investigation into the “cash-for-job scheme and unfair recruitment practices” in the cooperative banking sector.
Published – October 23, 2025 04:52 pm IST
