Thrissur: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has submitted its chargesheet in the 2021 Kodakara hawala case, clearing the BJP of any involvement.

The chargesheet states that complainant A K Dharmarajan, an RSS man, was able to establish the source of the Rs 3.56 crore that was stolen from his driver, Shamjudeen Shamjeer, at the Kodakara flyover in Thrissur on April 3, 2021 — three days before the Kerala Assembly election. The document, filed before the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) Court in Kochi on Tuesday, makes no mention of the BJP or its election funds — a connection explicitly made in the Kerala Police's chargesheet.

When contacted, ED officials said Dharmarajan, a contract distributor for the Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation, had given Rs 3.56 crore to Shamjeer for purchasing the Travancore Palace property in Alappuzha. "Dharmarajan borrowed Rs 50 lakh from acquaintances and provided documents showing that he withdrew the remaining money (Rs 3.06 crore) from various banks," said an official from ED’s legal team. The official also said that the agency’s investigation, which began in 2023, focused solely on verifying the money’s source and did not explore the political allegations tied to the case.

Asserting its findings, the ED declared that there is no need for further investigation.

Contradictions between ED and Kerala Police
ED’s findings contradict the chargesheet submitted by the Kerala Police's Special Investigation Team (SIT) to the Irinjalakuda Magistrate Court in Thrissur on July 23, 2021. Kerala Police, which arrested 23 individuals in connection with the robbery, concluded that the stolen money was linked to BJP’s election fund.

The ED’s claim that Dharmarajan withdrew the money from banks also conflicts with his initial statements to the Kodakara Police. Dharmarajan and Shamjeer approached the Kodakara Police on April 7, four days after the robbery and a day after the Assembly election, to report the crime. They claimed that a gang waylaid Shamjeer at Kodakara flyover, assaulted him, and drove off with his car, which contained Rs 25 lakh.

In his initial statement, Dharmarajan told police that the money had been handed over to him by the former Yuva Morcha treasurer Sunil Naik, who is known to be close to K Surendran, the then BJP state president. He said the money was being transported from Kozhikode to Kochi.

Notably, Naik’s name had also surfaced in the Manjeshwar election bribery case, in which Surendran was the primary accused. Naik, however, denied any wrongdoing and claimed his connections with Dharmarajan were purely business-related.

According to Kerala Police, Dharmarajan contacted Surendran and other BJP leaders on the night of the robbery, as revealed through call records cited in the chargesheet.

Though Dharmarajan had reported a robbery of Rs 25 lakh, police investigators had already concluded that the stolen amount was Rs 3.5 crore. ED’s chargesheet pegged the robbery at Rs 3.56 crore.

Police said Dharmarajan underreported the stolen amount because it was unaccounted-for money.

According to the SIT chargesheet, Dharmarajan had admitted to collecting funds from BJP donors — mostly merchants from Gujarat and Rajasthan—and distributing them among party leaders in Kerala. The police document states that between March 5 and April 5, 2021, a total of Rs 40 crore in unaccounted money was distributed to BJP leaders across the state. Of this, Rs 17 crore came from Bengaluru and Rs 23 crore from Kozhikode.

Despite these findings, Kerala Police listed BJP leaders allegedly involved in the cash movement as witnesses rather than accused. Dharmarajan is the first witness while K Surendran was made the seventh witness. The chargesheet names 219 witnesses in total.

Surendran dismissed the case as politically motivated, while the UDF cited it as evidence of an alleged CPM-BJP nexus.

Money trail and seizures
Police have arrested and charged 23 individuals in connection with the heist. They have traced Rs 2 crore of the stolen money and seized assets worth Rs 50 lakh. Some of the accused gave a portion of their share to their spouses, while others used it to buy gold, settle debts or fund trips across the country.

According to the police, Rs 1.4 crore of the Rs 3.5 crore remained unaccounted for.
In addition to the amount recovered by Kerala Police, the ED has seized Rs 3 lakh in cash and attached property worth Rs 8 lakh, according to its chargesheet.

The 23 accused in the robbery are from five districts:

Kannur: Muhammad Ali, Ayyappan (Thodu Village, Kuthuparamba); Sujeesh (Thiruvangad Village, Thalassery); Abdul Salam (Vellor Village, Payyannur); Rahim (Muzhakunnu Village, Iritty); Shijil alias Chottu (Kalliasseri Village); Rouf (Vellur Village, Payyannur); and P P Rasheed (Chokli, Koothuparamba)

Thrissur: Renjith (Vellikulangara Village); Deepak alias Sankaran (Vellikulangara Village); Arish (Apple Bazaar, Velukkangara); Martin (Vadakkumkara); Labeeb (Patteppadam, Vadakkumkara); Abhijith alias Abhi (Vilayand, Vellangallur, Vadakkumkara Village); Babu alias Vattu Babu (Vellangallur, Vadakkumkara Village); Abdul Shaid (Velukkara Village, Vilayanad); Abul Shukur (Vellangallur); Edwin (Vadakkumkara Village); Deepthy (Padi, East Kodaly); and Jinshamol (Apple Bazaar, Vellangallur).

Malappuram: Abdul Basheer (Mampad Village, Nilambur); and Sulfikar Ali alias Ali (Mangada).
Kozhikode: Abdul Rasheed (Panniyankara Village).
Kodagu (Karnataka): Muhammed Shafi (Chowdlu Village).