THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Museum police on Monday arrested nine people including United Electricals Industries Managing Director S R Vinayakumar, who is also the brother-in-law of former CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, for allegedly engaging in gambling in a quarters in Trivandrum Club.
The raid was organized on the basis of a tip-off that a group was engaged in playing cards for money. When the police reached the place by 7 pm, there were nine people in the room. The police raided the quarters and recovered about Rs 5.50 lakhs from the room.
The arrested men had assembled from various places in the district to take part in gambling, the police said.
The quarters was allotted to Vinayakumar, brother of Kodiyeri Balakrishnan's wife Vinodini, as he is the managing director of a public sector firm. His name is the first to be mentioned in the FIR.
Meanwhile, police sources said Vinayakumar claimed he had no knowledge of gambling taking place in the quarters allotted to him and said he had given a friend access to the place.
The incident also sparked political controversy with opposition leaders and social media users questioning the timing of the raid and the arrest.
Vinodini in an interview had recently revealed that family members had conveyed to the party Kodiyeri's wish that his body be taken to Thiruvananthapuram for the public to pay homage. But it was not granted.