Kodakara probe: Dharmarajan owned 10 vehicles with hidden compartments, say police

Kochi: The Kerala police have uncovered that Dharmarajan, the complainant in the Kodakara black money case, owned 10 vehicles with secret compartments. However, these were deliberately left out of the charge-sheet, as revealing the hawala activities of Dharmarajan could weaken the prosecution's case, in which he is arraigned as the complainant and primary witness of the prosecution.

A report submitted by the investigation team to central agencies and the Election Commission includes specifics on two cars, a parcel truck and a lorry that Dharmarajan used to smuggle hawala money worth Rs 41.40 crore from Karnataka to Kerala during the 2021 Assembly elections.

However, Dharmarajan is yet to disclose the details of the money transported using the remaining six vehicles fitted with secret compartments.

An intelligence report indicates that in addition to the hawala syndicate involving Dharmarajan, four other hawala rackets funnelled black money into Kerala during the previous election period. This group reportedly spent up to Rs 3 lakh per vehicle to install secret chambers that could be opened at the press of a switch. These vehicles were modified in Kozhikode, where these specialised compartments were crafted.

The black money smuggling networks received information about vehicles transporting cash from the manufacturers of these secret chambers. The team probing the Kodakara case has already traced 22 individuals who trailed Dharmarajan’s car transporting Rs 3.5 crore and subsequently robbed the cash.

Meanwhile, Karnataka police suspect that the complaint that Rs 4.4 crore, which was smuggled by Dharmarajan’s brother Dhanarajan, KP Vijith, and Sudheer Singh, was stolen near Salem, may have been fabricated as part of a scheme to retain the funds.