Thrissur: The probe into the case pertaining to the robbery of Rs 3.5-crore hawala money in Kodakara appears to have come to a standstill.
Nineteen accused were caught and over Rs 50 lakh was recovered. Though the complaint was about the robbery of Rs 25 lakh, more than double the amount was recovered from the accused. Still, no probe has been reportedly held into the source of the money. The Kerala Police has currently only probed the robbery.
The incident pertains to the robbery of Rs 3.5 crore, allegedly brought to Kerala for distribution three days before the Assembly polls, by staging a car accident at Kodakara. As per the complaint given by the driver, Rs 25 lakh was stolen.
The accused were arrested and money was recovered during the police probe led by Thrissur SP G Poonguzhali. Though Rs 50 lakh was recovered, the lion's share of the money has not been found yet, according to sources. The police have received information that one accused had handed over Rs 2 lakh each to 10 people.
In between, the government had ordered that the probe would be held at the DIG level. But after this, not much information has been revealed in the probe. Three more people, including one of the main accused Ranjith, have to be questioned. After this, the police are likely to turn their focus into the source of the money.
As it is an inter-state money-laundering case and the source of such a large amount has to be found, demands have been raised that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) should probe the case. But the police have revealed that former Yuva Morcha state treasurer Sunil Naik had given the Rs 25 lakh, which was stolen. And that RSS-BJP worker Dharmarajan, also a businessman, was entrusted with bringing the money.
Other parties have alleged that an Enforcement Directorate probe was unlikely after it was revealed that Yuva Morcha and BJP are linked to this.
