KOCHI: The Income Tax (I-T) department has said it had no knowledge of any actual cash being seized in the 2021 Kodakara black money case, which had threatened to affect the BJP in Kerala, especially state president K Surendran.
Debjyoti Das, director general of I-T (Investigation), Kerala, on Tuesday said he was aware of the incident and also that no cash was seized.
“There was no cash actually. There was some stealing and a police investigation, but I don’t think there was any cash seizure. It was not brought to our notice that any cash was seized,” Debjyoti said during a press conference called in Kochi to elaborate on the department’s preparation ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. When asked whether the police seized any cash, he said, “I don’t think so as that was not informed to us.”
On whether the I-T department probed the Kodakara incident, Debjyoti said the agency did have some information. “However, like I said, it was all hearsay. Somebody said something. There was no evidence. We had no cash seizure to begin with,” he said.
To repeated questions as to whether the department probed the case, he reiterated, “To my knowledge, nothing was seized. The police might have informed the court there is illegal money involved. But it was not handed over to us.”
As for giving a clean chit to Surendran, Debjyoti said: “I never said that. No cash was handed over to us. The information is only hearsay. Somebody made a complaint that cash was stolen from them. He had no proof he was carrying the cash. The police did not gave us any cash they seized.”
The case pertains to an incident of highway robbery on April 3, 2021, a few days before the Kerala assembly elections. The case caused a great furore, with the CPM and Congress alleging the involvement of BJP state leadership in the incident.