KOCHI: The city police Crime Detachment unit probing the allegations levelled against Kochi Music Foundation (KMF), over its failure to donate the proceeds of the musical event held last year to the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF), on Wednesday recorded the statements of filmmaker Aashiq Abu and music director Bijibal, main organisers of the event. The statements were recorded at ‘Cafe Papaya’ run by Aashiq Abu in the city.
“A preliminary probe into the case is on and detailed statement of the organisers will be recorded. Biji George, ACP, Crime Detachment, will submit a report to the city police commissioner,” said an officer with the investigation team.
The probe follows a petition from Sandeep G Varier, secretary, Yuva Morcha, to the district collector. This was forwarded to the commissioner who sent it to the ACP (Crime Detachment). The controversy was sparked after Varier posted an RTI document on Facebook recently, which revealed that the Chief Minister’s Office is yet to receive the proceeds from the musical event, ‘Karuna’, staged by KMF on Kerala Piravi Day (November 1) last year.
The event was staged at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium, Kadavanthra, here, with the proceeds meant to be donated to flood victims.
According to the organisers, they had received a mere `6.22 lakh from the event, which had cost them `22 lakh to stage. Aashiq Abu had shared the image of the cheque he had handed over to CMDRF via Facebook in reply to the allegation raised by Hibi Eden, MP. However, it drew flak from various quarters as the cheque is dated February 14, 2020, which revealed the amount was donated only after the issue snowballed into a controversy.