THRISSUR/KOCHI: The special police team investigating the Kodakara hawala case may question BJP state president K Surendran’s son after the call data records (CDRs) revealed that he had contacted Dharmarajan, a Kozhikode-based businessman with RSS leanings, many times on the day of the heist. Dharmarajan, on whose behalf the money was carried, is the complainant in the case.
Investigating officers said Thrissur Range DIG A Akbar may question Surendran’s son Harikrishnan K S, an engineering graduate, who was active in his father’s assembly election campaign. As per the CDRs, Harikrishnan, 24, contacted Dharmaraj several times on April 3 when the vehicle was waylaid and the money looted by a group of men at Kodakara on the Thrissur-Ernakulam highway.
Meanwhile, BJP former state president Kummanam Rajasekharan said the CPM was playing the politics of revenge by summoning the family members of the state president for questioning. He alleged that the government was trying to defame the party in Kerala.The hawala heist incident came to light after Shamjeer Shamsudeen, driver of Dharmarajan, first lodged a complaint saying Rs 25 lakh that he had carried was looted.
The probe team found out that the actual amount looted was around Rs 3.5 crore. According to the investigation officer, 21 accused have been arrested in the case. “About Rs 1.4 crore was recovered from the accused. The rest of the amount will be recovered in a couple of days, as it has been divided among them and even passed onto many others like friends and family. The probe is almost complete,” the officer said. Police sources said the 21 accused people have been charged with Section 391 of IPC (dacoity) and Section 120B (criminal conspiracy).
Speaking to reporters in Kochi on Sunday, Kummanam Rajasekharan said the police were not probing the role of CPM and CPI workers in the case. “ The party will unitedly face any attempt to unleash false propaganda and attack the BJP state president alone,” he said.
The party presented a unified front with all top leaders, including Kummanam, Union minister V Muraleedharan, Surendran and P K Krishnadas, jointly addressing the news conference at the party district headquarters in Kochi.
“A CPI MLA and his close aides were involved in the heist. The money of a businessman, Dharmarajan, who was deputed to distribute BJP’s poll campaign materials was robbed at Kodakara on April 3. He lodged a complaint. Instead of picking up the robbers and retrieving the money, the police are researching how the case can be linked to BJP as the person who lost the money is a BJP-RSS sympathiser,” he said.
It is strange that instead of checking the call list of the accused, the police are examining the call list of the complainant. Since the complainant is a BJP supporter, many party functionaries can be found on his call list,” said Kummanam.
He alleged CPM leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, who is demanding an inquiry into the BJP’s black money, should first convince the court of the source of the money found in his son Bineesh Kodiyeri’s account. “Despite not winning even a single seat in the recent elections, BJP’s growing influence in more constituencies is alarming for LDF and UDF.”
Surendran, who was also present, said he has already been booked in around 300 cases and is ready to face any investigation initiated by the CPM-led government while continuing in the party president post.