Setback for BJP? Kerala govt to reopen investigation into Kodakara hawala case
Kozhikode: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan held talks with the Director General of Police (DGP) regarding the reopening of the investigation into the Kodakara Hawala case.
According to reports, the government has decided to investigate the recent revelations related to the incident that happened in 2021, which had put the BJP's state unit in a difficult position.
Former BJP secretary Thiroor Satheesh on Thursday alleged that the hawala money seized in 2021 was meant for BJP.
Meanwhile, it has also been revealed that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) did not take any action despite receiving a letter from the government seeking a probe. A letter from Assistant Commissioner VK Raju, head of the special investigation team of the state police, has surfaced on Friday, demanding an ED probe into the incident.
On August 8, 2021, the letter was sent to the Deputy Director of the ED in Kochi. Despite this, the ED failed to investigate the matter. However, a few months ago, a court acquitted Surendran of charges in the election bribery case.
The Case
The Kodakara heist took place three days before the state elections on April 6, 2021. In the wee hours of April 3, a group of people waylaid a car (KL-56G 6789) by blocking it from both sides using two cars. Subsequently, the complainant, who is the driver of the car, and his friend were dragged out of the car and manhandled. A sum of Rs 25 lakh and the car, worth rupees eight lakh, were stolen in the incident.
Soon after the incident, the driver of the vehicle, Shamjeer Shamsudeen, informed Dharmarajan, who is named as a hawala agent by police in the chargesheet, about the robbery. A day after the elections, Shamjeer Shamsudeen complained to the Kodakara police station. The investigation later found that the robbed amount was not Rs 25 lakh but Rs 3.5 crore. Police also claim that the money was sourced illegally from Bengaluru through the hawala agent for meeting the expenses of the BJP in the state polls.
However, the police could not trace Rs 1.47 crore of the Rs 3.5 crore that was robbed. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) has arrested 22 people and there are 219 witnesses in the case, including prominent BJP leaders. However, none of the BJP leaders were named in the chargesheet submitted by the SIT in the Thrissur Sessions Court. Police were unable to register a case against the BJP leaders as 'hawala dealings' were not within their purview.
It was at this juncture, that various political party leaders and social activists approached the ED to intervene and to register a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, of 2002. However, ED did not respond to the requests. Usually, ED takes up such cases involving crores of rupees, if there is a predicate offence (a case registered by any law enforcing body).