Kerala Police’s midnight swoop on MLA Rahul Mamkootathil again at same hotel of past ‘blue box’ row

Palakkad: In a fresh rape complaint received via email, Kerala Police has once again carried out a midnight operation against Palakkad MLA Rahul Mamkootathil — and at the very same hotel. At around 12.30am on Saturday, Rahul was taken into custody from KPM Regency in Palakkad and later arrested. Indications suggest that preparations for the move had begun earlier in the evening. His arrest has now been formally recorded.

The current police action follows a new rape complaint, the third such allegation against the MLA. The latest complaint is reportedly from a woman hailing from Pathanamthitta.

From 10pm onwards, none of the senior police officials in the district could be reached by phone. The police acted only after Rahul’s driver and aide had left.

The first major police intervention against Rahul took place during the Palakkad by-election. On the night of November 5, 2024, claiming that money had been brought in a ‘blue box’, police inspected the rooms of Congress leaders in the same hotel.

However, nothing was found, and police failed to detain Rahul at the time — an episode widely described as a setback for the force. This time, though, the police operation was watertight. Allegations have also surfaced that the move against Rahul is an attempt to divert attention from other controversies, including the arrest of former Sabarimala tantri Kandararu Rajeevaru in the temple gold theft case.