Kerala BJP accuses Left govt of 'abusing police machinery' in Kodakara row; tells Governor

BJP senior leader Kummanam Rajasekharan on Wednesday accused the Kerala government of maligning Bharatiya Janata Party and its state president K Surendran's image. He informed that BJP met Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan and submitted a memorandum alleging abuse of police machinery by the LDF govt. According to the memorandum submitted to Kerala Governor, BJP has mentioned that Special Investigation Team (SIT) that was constituted by the government to probe Kodakara black money case consists of police officials handpicked who have allegiance to CPI(M).

"They want to malign BJP & its state president K Surendran. They want to take custody of all leaders to crush activities of BJP in Kerala," said BJP's Kummanam Rajasekharan.

Earlier, BJP leader Rajasekharan blamed the state government of trying to silence the Opposition and stated that the real culprits in the Kodakara heist case are from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India (CPI). While speaking at a press conference in Kerala's Kochi on Sunday, the BJP leader called Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's administration fascist and dictatorial for not allowing them to conduct a "peaceful political activity".

BJP leaders quizzed in Kodakara black money case

On June 7, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan informed the Kerala Legislative Assembly that twenty persons were arrested in connection with Kodakara black money case, in which the BJP leaders were also quizzed by the SIT. Giving details of the case, Vijayan said that the case was initially registered under Section 395 Indian Penal Code (IPC) based on the complaint of one Shamjeer, that Rs 25 lakh and his car was stolen by a group of people at the Thrissur Kodakara bypass on April 3.

Kodakara money laundering controversy

The alleged misuse of the Kerala BJP funds came to light after two persons- Dharmaraj and Shamjudeen lodged a complaint with the Kodakara police station claiming that a gang had intercepted them at the Kodakara flyover and taken away the Rs 25 lakh that they were carrying from Kozhikode to Kochi on April 3. While the theft was being investigated, the probe revealed that the amount stolen was much more than Rs 25 lakh and was a hawala transaction. Ultimately Rs 50 lakh was recovered by the police who claimed that the actual amount could go up to Rs 3.5 crore.

Upon questioning, Dharmaraj claimed that the amount was handed over to him by former Yuva Morcha treasurer Sunil Naik. Subsequently, the names of several other leaders including BJP Alappuzha district treasurer KG Kartha also emerged in the case. The massive amount of money fueled controversy in the state with the CPM claiming that the hawala money was being used by the BJP for its assembly election campaigning.

(With ANI Inputs)

(Image Credits: @Kummanam-Twitter/ANI)