Relatives of former Speaker and Kerala Congress leader -TS John- lodged a complaint with both the Kochi police and the state Assembly Speaker alleging foul play in his death. Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan is said to have handed over the complaint to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

The veteran Congress leader who died at the age of 76 on June 9 had done a stint as the Speaker in the fourth Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1976-77 and had also served as the state minister for Food and Civil Supplies in the AK Antony and PK Vasudevan Nair governments.

Based on the complaint, the Kochi Police Commissioner has reportedly ordered an inquiry into the circumstances leading to his death. Reports say that the properties owned by the former minister apparently passed into the hands of a private trust -that John himself had formed- on his death.

This supposedly did not go well with his relatives who believe that the minister could have been done away with, by people close to the minister and who wanted to get their hands on his inheritance.