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Kozhikode: The Kerala unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party's youth wing yesterday alleged that a businessman embroiled in a controversial land deal had helped organise the reception for the marriage of state Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan's son last week.
Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha president K. Surendran said here that businessman Xavy Mano Mathew, whose name is linked with the controversial Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) land deal, had hosted the April 12 wedding reception of Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan's son.
Certain underworld elements and persons with known criminal records had also attended the reception, Surendran alleged.
Criminal nexus
"The reception organised on April 12, a day before the marriage at Sree Moolam Club in Thiruvananthapuram, was attended by known criminals," he said.
He said the venue for the event had been booked and arrangements made in the name of Mathew, who came into media focus when the Isro purchased 82 acres of land at Ponmudi hills, 70km from Thiruvananthapuram, from him in March last year. Opposition parties had at the time alleged that the land belonged to the state's forest department and that Mathew sold it illegally in connivance with Forest Minister Binoy Viswom.
Following the opposition protests, the government cancelled the land deal and offered an alternative site to Isro.
Proof of wrongdoing
Surendran said: "This incident substantiates the allegations that those in the government connived with Xavy Mano Mathew."
Balakrishnan had earlier faced criticism for allegedly staying in a house that had been rented out by Mathew.
Surendran said political figures had kept a distance from the reception in the state capital.
"Those who attended the function include people belonging to the underworld don Dawood's gang," he said.
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