CHENNAI, Aug 2 (PTI) — In a stepped up offensive, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi today accused the BJP government at the Centre of committing a "mischievous fraud" in the action taken report on the Jain Commission findings saying it had been done by completely "distorting and manipulating the facts with an ulterior political motive to malign me and DMK."

A day after his party DMK alleged that reference to him in the ATR was done under the pressure of AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalitha, Mr Karunanidhi in a hard hitting statement to the press sought to contest the inferences drawn by the ATR on the Jain Commission’s recommendations in the final report.

The statement said the inclusion of Mr Karunanidhi’s name in the "role of suspects in the assassination" was a "fraudulent manipulation and wanton mischief unworthy of the powers that be."

"In sum, I only pity the ‘tall’ BJP leaders, who once claimed to have stood for some principles and had to stoop to this level because of the bad company they keep," he said.

The Chief Minister said in the final report, which runs into more than 2,000 pages covering various personalities and theories, direct reference to his name found mention in only one page and that too in one line under the under topic where it was "innocuously" mentioned that SIT did not interrogate Chandraswamy, Seshan, Subramaniam Swamy, J. Jayalalitha and P.V. Narasimha Rao.

"In continuation of that it is added: M. Karunanidhi was also not interrogated. On many matters, his interrogation was quite relevant."

Mr Karunanidhi said "This innocuous sentence was unfairly and improperly taken out of context and used by the ATR to suit their own purposes which is reprehensible."

He contended that as this sentence alone was "scooped out of the entire paragraph mischievously," he was duty-bound to clarify he was examined and cross-examined by the Jain Commission on oath and in public for more than five days and unlike some of them he was forthright 'without withholding' anything.

"This reference that on ‘many matters his interrogation was quite relevant’ relates to my deposition and nothing more," he said.

Detailing his theory of "fraud", the Chief Minister said while the reference to him in the Jain Commission Report was made in the chapter on ‘Stand of the SIT on the theories beyond LTTE", his name was "cunningly" included by the ATR under the heading "role of suspects in the assassination".

"This is nothing but a fraudulent manipulation and wanton mischief unworthy of the powers that be," he said.

Mr Karunanidhi said in the entire final report there was no "doubt, suspicion or apprehension" at all about him or his conduct whereas the ATR has used the plural "misgivings" against him "which was nothing but a tissue of lies and distortion of facts".

Mr Naidu told reporters there was no need for the DMK to overreact on the ATR and also on the government’s decision to refer such issues when the commission wanted further probe by multi-disciplinary monitoring agency.

"Observations by the Jain Commission with regard to DMK leader and Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. Karunanidhi is serious and it deserves to be looked into", he said, adding that the commission in page 361, volume five, had said Mr Karunanidhi was not interrogated on certain issues, which were relevant.

The general secretary said since the government had not come to any conclusion, "Then why should the DMK overreact and make charges against the government. Truth should be made known to the public".

Mr Naidu said, "The government will not work under pressure from any quarters. It is interested to bring out the realities before the people. Besides, 26 conspirators involved in the assassination, some more persons might be involved".

Mr Naidu said: "In 1994 senior Congress leader Arjun Singh had objected when the Congress party, which was in power at that time wanted to wind it up demanding further probe raising many issues".

"The BJP has not appointed the Jain Commission nor has it made any changes. There is uneasiness among Congress leaders as Chandraswami was very close to certain leaders", Mr Naidu said.

The general secretary said the BJP wanted further discussion on the report and on the Verma Commission report as there were some serious observations made in it.

NEW DELHI, AUGUST 2 (PTI) — There is no plan to retaliate to the expulsion of seven Indian scientists by the USA and the crackdown on others having links with the country’s atomic energy and defence institutes, a spokesman for the Ministry of Science and Technology said here today

Asking the research community not to be provoked by the US action, the spokesman said the government was not contemplating any plan to retaliate despite a call to do so recently by some Members of Parliament.

"We do not want to take this battle to street corner. We want to behave in a dignified and mature way," he said.The way Indian scientists are being treated as "bonded labour" is an insult to the US scientific community and its academic freedom, he said, hoping that American scientists themselves would take up this issue with the Clinton administration.

The spokesman, however, said his ministry was not sitting idle and was scrutinising various options to hit back at the USA, if necessary. For instance, India can stop providing the Insat satellite data badly needed by the US scientists, he said, adding that American companies also stood to lose if New Delhi backed out of an agreement signed early this year to test US-made male contraceptives and withdrew from scores of other projects on vaccines and drugs of interest to Washington.

But some scientists complained that Indian bureaucrats and science administrators were not really serious on retaliation against the USA because of vested interests. "Almost all of them have sons, daughters, or relatives studying in a US university on a scholarship or a fellowship," said a scientist on conditions of anonymity.

Observers said the 40 years of Indo-US cooperation in science and technology, which saw many ups and downs, had now reached the lowest point.