Kerala CM refutes Oppn charge on law

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 16 (UNI) Terming as ''baseless'' the allegation levelled by the Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly Oommen Chandy that the crime rate in the state was high, Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan today claimed that the law and order situation in the state was far better than any other state in the country.

Talking to newspersons here, he said Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil had given a clean chit to the state on the law and order situation.

As even minor cases were registered, a survey found that the state had the highest crime rate in the country, he said.

Though, during the past few months, five CPI(M) sympathisers were killed allegedly by the RSS and the BJP members, no untoward incidents took place in the state following the incident due to effective maintenance of law and order situation, he claimed.

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