Allegations fly thick and fast as trolley bag row takes centre stage

Palakkad: Thirteen days before Palakkad votes again in the Assembly bypolls, the blue-coloured suitcase seems to have taken centre stage.

After CPM released more CCTV footage, which showed the UDF candidate Rahul Mamkoottathil leaving in a different car and the cabin baggage with the alleged unaccounted money being loaded into another vehicle, former Youth Congress leader AK Shanib said hawala money reached Palakkad in Opposition leader VD Satheesan's vehicle.

"I am saying this with clear conviction," Shanib said. "This (transporting money) is being done by exploiting the security provided to Satheesan in his capacity as the Leader of the Opposition. Cash was brought in when KC Venugopal came to Palakkad. All this is being managed by Satheesan's benami, Nawaz Manjali, who is currently facing an ED investigation,” alleged Shanib.

After the Palakkad byelection was announced, Shanib left the Congress and raised serious allegations against Shafi Parambil. He has announced his support for Sarin, the LDF-backed independent candidate.

CPM releases new footage
On Thursday, CPM released more CCTV footage from the KPM Regency Hotel in Palakkad, where Congress leaders stayed. The visuals were from November 5 between 10 pm and 11.30 pm.

The released visuals support the CPM's claim that the two trolley bags were not transported in the vehicle that took UDF candidate Mamkoottathil to Kozhikode but in another vehicle.

Through the released visuals, the CPM intends to substantiate the claim that Mamkoottathil arrived and departed in different vehicles while also raising a question in the public sphere about what was in the trolley bag that he took to Kozhikode.

Mamkoottathil refutes claims
Responding to the CPM's claim, Mamkoottathil said he boarded the car in which Shafi Parambil travelled. But his friend travelled in his car with the trolley bag.

After travelling for a short distance, he said he got into his own vehicle. "I got into my vehicle from in front of the Press Club. You can verify this by checking the CCTV there. I unloaded the blue bag and a personal bag from my car in front of KR Tower and transferred them to the vehicle I used to travel to Kozhikode," Mamkoottathil said.