Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 14 (IANS): Former Kerala chief minister and Marxist leader V.S. Achuthanandan is a "hollow" man, state Congress president Ramesh Chennithala said Saturday.

"The recent vigilance case exposes him hollow. The now controversial land scam is a clear violation of power when he handed over land to his relative who, though a former defence personnel, was clearly not eligible (for the land)," the Congress leader said.

The land was given to a relative, T.K. Soman at Kasargode.

"The rules are very clear that land can be given to only those defence personnel who have got meritorious awards, and such a person should not be having an annual income of more than Rs.30,000," said Chennithala.

The vigilance department Friday named Achuthanandan as the prime accused in a land transfer case.

It also named four Indian Administrative Service officials, including former principal secretary to Achuthanandan Sheela Thomas, as co-accused.

The other accused include former revenue minister and Communist Party of India leader K.P. Rajendran and Achuthanandan's personal assistant Suresh.