Thrissur: Police probing the Rs 3.5 crore highway robbery at Kodakara are investigating whether the money was meant to fund the BJP’s election campaign at Konni Assembly segment.
Investigators collected evidence from Konni, besides visiting places where BJP State president K Surendran and his party colleagues had stayed during their campaign in that constituency.
Surendran had unsuccessfully contested to the State Assembly from Konni, besides Manjeshwaram.
Meanwhile, investigators would interrogate Surendran’s secretary, Deep, at the Police Club in Thrissur on Saturday.
Police extended the probe to Konni after interrogating Dharmarajan, a Kozhikode-based RSS functionary, who had allegedly sent the money.
Following the robbery, both CPM and Congress alleged that the cash was brought in through the hawala route to fund BJP’s last-minute campaign. The probe was extended after Dharmarajan had dropped hints substantiating the allegation during the interrogation.
Surendran’s heli-hopping between Manjeshwaram and Konni ahead of the polls had invited criticism, even from within his own party. Police are trying to collect evidence to prove that the BJP had pumped in huge amounts of money into the Kerala poll campaign, and submit a report, with proof, to the Enforcement Directorate.
There were hints that the police might question Surendran as part of the investigation. Investigators, meanwhile, interrogated Dhanarajan, brother of Dharmarajan, in connection with the case.
It has been alleged that a gang faked an accident on the highway at Kodakara to rob a car illegally ferrying the cash into the State from Karnataka early on April 3, three days before the polling.
Though the car driver had stated that Rs 25 lakh was robbed, police have so far recovered Rs 1 crore of the suspected loot.
