Ghosts of 2021 highway heist awaken in Kerala as BJP worker claims Rs 3.5 crore was meant for party
Congress, CPI(M) also wade into controversy, blaming each other of being hand in glove with the BJP
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On Friday, Opposition Leader V D Satheesan of the Congress said “the failure of the state police as well as the central agencies to look into the source of funds shows the nexus between BJP and CPI(M)”. A highway robbery that took place just three days ahead of the 2021 state elections at Kodakara town in Kerala’s Thrissur district has sparked fresh allegations from the Congress and the CPI(M) against the BJP – and each other – after a former BJP worker said the money was meant for the party.
On Friday, Opposition Leader V D Satheesan of the Congress said “the failure of the state police as well as the central agencies to look into the source of funds shows the nexus between BJP and CPI(M)”. CPI(M)’s P Rajeev, the state’s Law Minister, said the police had probed the matter and that the chargesheet “clearly stated that the money was meant for the BJP election fund”. He also accused the Congress of staying silent on the matter instead of taking a “strong stand against the Centre”.
The BJP denied the allegations and accused the state’s ruling CPI(M) of being behind the claims made by the ex-BJP man, Thiroor Satheesh.
In the early hours of April 3, around Rs 3.5 crore was robbed from a car on the Kodakara stretch of the National Highway between Thrissur and Ernakulam districts. The CPI(M) at the time said the looting was a “drama” allegedly “enacted” by local BJP leaders to “share unused election funds”.
In July 2021, the state police submitted a chargesheet against 22 persons, recommending a probe by the Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax Department into the source of the money.
Thiroor Satheesh’s claims, which he made on TV channels just days before bypolls are set to be held in Kerala on November 13, has brought the issue back into the limelight.
The former BJP officer staffer told the media that the money had allegedly been brought to the office in bags under the guise of election campaign material. BJP’s Thrissur district president K K Aneesh Kumar rejected the claims, and said the CPI(M) was behind Satheesh, who the BJP had “removed from duty for financial anomalies”.
BJP state vice-president Sobha Surendran said Satheesh was in a “debt trap” and that he was being paid by CPI(M).
“Kerala Police, under (Chief Minister) Pinarayi Vijayan, had probed the case for several months,” she pointed out.
The police chargesheet said that Kozhikode-based RSS worker A K Dharmarajan had brought the cash from Karnataka, allegedly at the behest of BJP secretary (organisation) Ganeshan and BJP state office secretary G Gireeshan. The state police did not probe the source of the money, and instead handed it over to ED and I-T.
Congress’s Satheesan said the case reflects “a mutual understanding between CPI(M) and BJP to bury it”.
Kerala Law Minister P Rajeev said the state police had completed the probe and reported the matter to the ED and IT. “But the central agency is not acting upon the state police report,” he said.
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