ED forced to probe Kodakara hawala case as Rs 3.5 crore finds mention in court documents

Thrissur: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) will be forced to launch a foolproof investigation into the hawala robbery case since its details have officially become part of court documents.

It was submitted to the court that Rs 3.5 crore had been clandestinely ferried into State in a car through hawala channels. It was earlier alleged that since the money belonged to the BJP, the ED probe would not reveal the details. 

With the witnesses in the case themselves submitting written statements before the court, the ED will now have to initiate a detailed probe. Details of the State police probe into the robbery would be included in the court documents, and handed over to the central agency.

Even if the source of the money could be shown, ED cannot rule out the smuggling of such a large amount. The amount, Rs 3.5 crore, mentioned in the petition would create a headache for the State police, too, since they were yet to recover close to Rs 2.5 crore more.

Despite the police claim of arresting all accused persons, investigators had not been able to recover the complete cash a gang had robbed after faking an accident at Kodakara early on April 3.

In a petition submitted to the Irinjalakkuda court, Dharmarajan (to whom the money was reportedly sent), stated that Rs 3.5 crore was in the car. The petition said Rs 25 lakh was kept in a black bag, and the remaining cash was hidden under the carpet and inside the rear seat.

The missing Rs 3.5 crore was mentioned in the petitions by Sunil Naik, who had sent the money, and Dharmarajan. The petitions sought an order to hand the recovered Rs 1.25 lakh over to them. The total amount was also mentioned in car driver Shamjeer’s plea, who sought the release of the vehicle.

The ED cannot refute since the men had mentioned the amount in writing. The petition also said that the money had come from Mumbai. Dharmarajan had earlier told the police that the money was from Karnataka.

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