Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 9 - The Congress-led opposition in Kerala Wednesday said it would hold a daylong protest Sep 17 seeking the removal of the home portfolio from the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) over the probe into the murder of Muthoot business group scion Paul M. George.

'All the top leaders of the United Democratic Front (UDF) will sit in satyagraha in front of the state secretariat to see that the home portfolio is taken away from the CPI-M. Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and his party are more interested in shielding criminals and not in protecting the people of the state,' P.P. Thankachen, convenor of the Congress-led UDF, told reporters here.

The UDF met here and decided that the Sep 17 demonstration would be the first in the series of protests they would launch against the CPI-M.

'The latest episode of the CPI-M and their leaders shielding criminals is the Paul M. George murder case. Even a school kid in the state will know that the police is under duress from the CPI-M to mislead the investigation and protect the real culprits,' said Thankachen.