There is a political storm brewing in Kerala and at the centre of it is a highway robbery that was carried out on April 3. The robbery was carried on the highway leading from Thrissur to Ernakulam, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Kodakara police station, Thrissur district. The robbery took place three days before voting for the assembly poll in the state began. Initial investigation has zeroed in on local BJP leaders and criminal gang from Kannur as being behind the early morning operation.
According to the FIR filed by Kodakara sub inspector of police J. Jaison, Shamjeer Shamsudeen, a 37-year-old resident of Chelannur village in Kozhikode district had filed a written complaint on April 7, saying he was robbed while transporting Rs 25 lakh, meant for a land deal, by nine persons who blocked his car on the Kodakara flyover and physically assaulted his friend Rasheed, before making away with the money and their car worth Rs 8 lakh. The statement, though, has been deemed as false by the Kodakara police since the alleged victim has not been able to explain the delay of four days in filing a police complaint, especially when the Kodakara police station is a mere 500 meters away from the crime scene and because Kodakara is the native place of Kodali Sreedharan who specialised in looting Hawala operators and his gang members are still active in the area. The police’s investigation, however, saw delays (reasons unknown) and they finally arrested nine persons on April 25 and 26. Five more alleged to be part of the gang are absconding.
The Kerala Police on Friday questioned state BJP general secretary (organisation) M Ganeshan in connection with the alleged robbery.
Police sources said Ganeshan, a senior RSS pracharak, was questioned for three hours. BJP state office secretary G Girisheen is likely to be questioned on Saturday.
However, as the police probe progressed, the amount of money kept increasing — Rs 1 crore was recovered from the premises of the gang arrested for the robbery, and based on the confessions of those arrested, investigators have concluded that the looted money could be as much as Rs 3.5 crore.
It has been alleged that the looted money was part of BJP’s election fund for the Assembly polls. “Several persons, including BJP leaders, would be served notices in the coming days. All those who are suspected to be privy to the arrival and movement of the money would be questioned. We are preparing the list based on digital evidence. Those who have been in touch with Dharmarajan and others in those days (of the robbery) would be questioned for verifying certain points,” a police source said.
On Thursday, police questioned BJP Alappuzha district secretary K G Kartha, based on the deposition of Dharmarajan. Kartha had been in touch with Dharmarajan in the days before the robbery and after the incident.