Kochi: The Congress in Kerala today demanded a judicial inquiry into the sale of about 70 acres of HMT land to Mumbai-based HDIL for setting up the Rs 4,000 crore Cyber city project at nearby Kalamassery.

Speaking to reporters after visiting the project site, Opposition leader O. Chandy said the probe should also go into the role of Industries Minister Elamaram Kareem and Revenue minister K P Rajendran in the deal. "If the government has nothing to hide, why is the government hesitating to order a judicial probe?" he asked.

The company was constructing the boundary wall at the site in "great haste", he said, adding the government should immediately take steps to stop all construction activities at the site. Stating that Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan cannot "wash his hands off" the land deal by saying he was unaware of it and that he had not participated in the inaugural function, Chandy said documents showing that the chief minister's office had intervened to help the company, have surfaced.

The youth Congress workers, who protested against the project, were badly beaten up by the police, allegedly at the behest of the Mumbai company, he said. Earlier, KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala said the chief minister should take efforts to get back the land sold by HMT to Blue Star Realtors Ltd (BSRL), a subsidiary of Housing Development Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL). He said he would launch a 24-hour hunger strike in front of the secretariat on Feb 5 protesting against price rise in the state.

Source : PTI