Political Row Deepens Over Midnight Police Raid In By-Poll Bound Palakkad

The political row over a midnight police raid at a hotel in Palakkad on suspicion of arrival of black money intensified in Kerala on Thursday.

Palakkad:The political row over a midnight police raid at a hotel in bypoll-bound Palakkad on suspicion of arrival of black money intensified on Thursday with the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala calling for an investigation into the matter. CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan demanded a probe after CCTV footage emerged showing a Congress worker arriving at the hotel with a trolley bag.

The Congress-led UDF has accused the left partyof releasing the footage to the media. "CPI(M) will resist the flow of black money for the bypolls. There is evidence that black money was brought to Palakkad. Therefore, a probe in this regard is required," he told reporters.

Meanwhile, the Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, V D Satheesan, lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India, alleging that CPI(M) had misused the police machinery, as the raid was a "pre-planned operation".

“It is a clear case of misuse of the police machinery by the CPI(M)-led government in the Palakkad by-election, while relegating the EC and election officials to helpless bystanders. It may be noted that even prior to the police scripted drama fashioned as a raid, CPI(M) and BJP activists assembled in front of the hotel." "Not only that, representatives from a CPI(M) run TV channel had also reached the Hotel.The police conducted the raid in a lackadaisical manner without taking any steps whatsoever to secure the gates or the doors of the Hotel. Consequently, this provided an ample opportunity for the CPI(M) and BJP activists, mobilised outside, to enter it and create an environment for conflict. This act on part of the police makes it evident that the raid was pre-planned,” said the letter sent by the Congress leader.

BJP state president K Surendran alleged that the police assisted Congress leaders in moving black money from the hotel. "It's clear that black money was brought to the hotel. However, the police acted to help Congress workers move the money before the raids," he said. He claimed this was due to a Congress-CPI(M) arrangement in Palakkad that has existed for several years.

The Congress alleged that the raid was staged by the CPI(M) to divert attention from the Kodakara black money case, in which BJP's top brass was allegedly involved. A midnight police raid at the hotel on suspicion of black money triggered an intense political slugfest on Wednesday.

The police had conducted searches, including in hotel rooms where prominent Congress women politicians, such as Bindu Krishna and Shanimol Usman, were staying. The Election Commission postponed the Palakkad Assembly bypoll from November 13 to November 20, citing the Kalpathi Ratholsavam festival.

The bypoll was necessitated after Congress MLA of the constituency, Shafi Parambil, got elected to the Lok Sabha from the Vadakara constituency.

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra condemned a police search of female Congress leaders' hotel rooms in assembly bypoll-bound Palakkad, calling it "wrong." "It was wrong for male policemen to enter women's rooms in the middle of the night under the pretext of a hotel raid," Priyanka told the Asianet news channel.

As the UDF candidate in the Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll, Priyanka was responding to a query regarding the police raid on the hotel, which followed suspicions of black money being brought there. Her statement comes amid a political storm in Kerala, where the ruling CPI(M) has called for an investigation after CCTV footage showed a Congress worker arriving at the hotel with a trolley bag.

The Congress-led UDF has accused the left party of releasing the footage to the media and has lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India, alleging that the CPI(M) misused the police machinery in a "pre-planned operation."