Kasaragod: Udma MLA and CPM state committee member C H Kunhambu has for long been facing allegations of corruption in the conduct of the Bekal International Beach Festival, the district’s flagship year-end event. Now, his rival UDF candidate K Neelakandan’s camp has escalated the attack, detailing what it calls a pattern of rule violations, financial irregularities and institutional misuse by allegedly turning the Bekal Resorts Development Corporation (BRDC) into a vehicle for corruption.

The first edition of the 10-day festival in 2022 was mired in controversy, with allegations of under-reporting ticket sales by at least six lakh entries and evasion of service tax. Three editions have since been held.

Adv B M Jamal Patel, Congress leader and chief election agent of Neelakandan, began by flagging the use of an official vehicle by BRDC Managing Director Shijil P. He said Shijil uses a Thiruvananthapuram-registered BYD eMAX 7 electric MUV, priced around ₹30 lakh, which BRDC has taken on a monthly lease of ₹67,000.

“Government agencies often take vehicles on lease to reduce costs. But here, the car owner is a close relative of Shijil, and the relative is likely a benami,” Patel alleged. “Effectively, the government is paying rent to Shijil for a car he himself owns and uses,” he said, also alleging misuse of official travel provisions.

“Senior officials such as CEOs and MDs can use vehicles for non-duty trips and claim ₹8 per km. But Shijil does not maintain a logbook. Entries merely say he travelled ‘in the direction of the minister’ or ‘as directed by the Speaker’, with no written orders or tour diary. The bottom line is misuse of both the vehicle and government provisions,” Patel said.

Shijil, who was once a tour operator, was working with Tourism Minister P A Mohamed Riyas before he was made the MD of BRDC. "The appointment itself is a violation of rules for top posts," Patel alleged.

Bekal International Beach Festival
In 2022, Kunhambu proposed the 10-day beach festival in the Assembly to promote Bekal as a tourism destination. The government approved the plan and sanctioned ₹10 lakh to BRDC on December 2, 2022, with the direction to the agency to organise the festival. However, on September 2, 2022, three months before the BRDC board meeting and government approval, Kunhambu formed an organising committee, chaired by himself, and proceeded with preparations.

The committee initiated the tender process and received two bids: one from Mahyoobah Eco Solutions Pvt Ltd, a Kasaragod-based waste management company, and another from Shrigo Group of Hotels, which has footprints across the country. Mahyoobah won the contract.

But Patel alleged that Shrigo’s bid was fabricated. “The bid was on an A4 sheet, not on a letterhead. Under RTI, we inspected the records at BRDC and found that Shrigo had neither submitted a bid nor was aware of it. The document was forged,” he said, adding that Shrigo had not paid the mandatory earnest money deposit, nor was present when the bids were opened.

“This means the first edition itself began on a fraudulent note under the organising committee headed by the MLA,” he said.

Further controversy followed over ticketing. Daily footfall figures announced at the venue cumulatively touched 10 lakh, which was announced on the closing day. But the MLA’s accounts presented later allegedly showed sales of only 4 lakh tickets. Youth Congress district president B P Pradeep Kumar had alleged that nearly ₹3 crore was unaccounted for from ticket sales alone. Patel also alleged violations of the Income Tax Act.

“Payments exceeding ₹2 lakh must be routed through banks, but celebrities and performers were paid in cash,” he said.

‘Fake society’
After the first edition, the GST Department issued a notice of ₹37 lakh to BRDC. At that point, BRDC reportedly claimed that the event was organised by an entity called Bekal Tourism Promotion Society.

“That was the first time such a society was mentioned,” Patel said, pointing out that until then, the MLA had projected the organising committee as the organiser.

Investigations allegedly revealed further irregularities. “The society applied for GST registration only after the department initiated action,” Patel said. The society operated from a rented house, and it turned out that its door number was the same as BRDC's. The State Tax Officer found that the building owner had not signed any such rent agreement,” he said, alleging

that the society, whose office-bearers included Kunhambu, Kanhangad block panchayat president K Manikandan and BRDC MD Shijil, had committed a criminal offence. The GST Department later cancelled its registration. The tax dues remain unpaid.

Changes in BRDC structure
Following the controversy, Kunhambu was inducted into the BRDC board of directors. “Since its formation in 1995, BRDC has never had an MLA on its board,” Patel said, alleging that the move was intended to ‘cover up the fraud’.

He also questioned the appointment of DYFI leader Shalu Mathew as an independent director. “Independent directors must be empanelled through the IICA databank and pass a proficiency test. That was not followed,” he said.

Second edition and financial decisions
Ahead of the second edition, Bekal Beach Park, the festival venue, was leased to a private individual without tender. Earlier, it had been managed by the CPM-controlled Pallikkara Service Cooperative Bank.

After the second edition, organisers reported a loss of ₹80 lakh. On June 25, 2024, the BRDC board decided to sanction ₹50 lakh to clear the liability.

Patel alleged that this amounted to using public funds to settle the debt of a private entity. “The festival was run by an organising committee, and the park was leased to a private party. Yet BRDC stepped in to clear the debt,” he said.

Initially, the minutes of BRDC's board meeting recorded that the financial statements had been vetted by the finance manager and auditors. But on July 17, 2024, finance manager Ajith Kumar added a clarification:

“In this connection, please note that the decision of the board was not based on any report, opinion or remark from the finance manager. The file was not put up for the finance manager’s opinion.”

“This clearly shows that the original minutes were doctored and did not have the approval of its finance officer," Patel alleged.

Call for investigation
Patel accused the BRDC chairperson, who is the Chief Secretary, of failing to act. “He has been reduced to a puppet while the MLA runs the show,” he alleged.

An earlier complaint by Youth Congress leader Pradeep Kumar before the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) was dismissed, saying there was no corruption. A subsequent PIL in the High Court was also rejected based on the report from the VACB. “We will now approach the vigilance court for a detailed inquiry,” Patel said.

He also held Tourism Minister P A Mohamed Riyas responsible. “He facilitated the MLA’s entry into the board, which helped cover up the corruption,” Patel alleged.

Fresh allegation
In the latest charge, Patel said 30 acres at Kolavayal in Kanhangad town were leased to a Karnataka-based company, Amaravati, to develop it as a tourism village. "It is a ₹200 crore project. Again, no bidding process was followed. This was done with the knowledge of the tourism minister,” alleged Adv T K Haseeb, Patel's partner, who helped with the RTI documentation.