In a major development in the Kodakara hawala case, which could possibly have political ramifications for the BJP in the state, the party President K Surendran on July 14 morning appeared before the investigation officers to be quizzed. Amid tight security deployed before the Thrissur Police Club, K Surendran appeared by around 10.50 am on Wednesday.
The Kodakara hawala case pertains to a highway robbery which happened on April 3, 2021, three days before the Kerala Assembly polls. Though the initial complaint in the case stated that Rs 25 lakhs were stolen from a car in the wee hours of April 3, following investigation revealed that about Rs 3.5 crore were robbed from the car. BJP in Kerala got in trouble after one of the complainants in the case, AK Dharmarajan, an RSS worker, allegedly gave a statement to police that the money was meant to be transported to some BJP district leaders in the state. Political fronts like LDF had come out alleging that the money was ‘black money’ brought forward for BJP’s election work.
K Surendran’s name surfaced in the case after investigation officers allegedly found that K Surendran’s son had contacted AK Dharmarajan, on the day the money was stolen. Talking to media, while entering the Thrissur police club for questioning, K Surendran called the investigation in the Kodakara case a ‘political gimmick’. “It will be the first time in history that a complainant’s call records are searched and people are called for questioning, without checking whom the accused persons in the case contacted. This is a strange investigation for political gains,” K Surendran said.
Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax Department and Election Commission of Kerala, is also inquiring about various angles of the case.
Recently, K Surendran was booked by Kasaragod police for allegedly bribing his ‘namesake’ candidate who contested for the 2021 Assembly polls from Manjeshwar. It is alleged that K Surendran bribed by giving Rs 2.5 lakhs and a smartphone for the namesake candidate to withdraw nomination. Surendran is booked under Indian Penal Code sections 171 B (bribery) and E (punishment for bribery).