Kerala police’s questioning of seven BJP functionaries in a nearly two-month-old carjacking and robbery case has intensified charges of money-laundering and election malpractice against the party.

On April 3, during the Assembly poll campaign, seven men allegedly hijacked a car in which money was being purportedly taken from Kozhikode to Alappuzha by two men, at least one of whom has been identified by the police as an RSS official, Dharmarajan.

A complaint about the crime in Thrissur district was, however, filed only on April 7 – a day after the state elections — by the other occupant, Shamjeer. He said the occupants were carrying Rs 25 lakh in cash, which the carjackers took away.

Shamjeer did not mention any BJP links, and the party has denied any connection with the money. However, the sum of Rs 25 lakh falls within the limit that an Assembly candidate is allowed to spend on electioneering.

However, unconfirmed media reports alleged the cash robbed from the car was Rs 3.5 crore, leading to accusations that it was unaccounted money that the BJP planned to use to lure rival parties’ MLAs.

The speculation has gained strength with the special investigation team (SIT) saying that Rs 90 lakh had been seized so far from the 19 people with criminal backgrounds arrested in the dacoity case, registered with Kodakara police station in Thrissur.

The SIT has questioned state BJP organising secretary M. Ganesh, state office secretary G. Girish, Thrissur secretary K.R. Hari, district treasurer Sujay Senan, Ayyanthole area secretary G. Kasinathan, Thrissur office secretary Satheesan and Alappuzha treasurer K.G. Kartha.

Kartha was grilled for over four hours after testimonies of some of those in custody and their telephone records showed they had contacted him several times after the heist, police sources said.

They alleged that some of the accused had acknowledged spending the night before the heist in two hotel rooms booked by the Thrissur BJP office, implying an inside job.

HC plea

Salim Madavoor, national president of the Loktantrik Janata Dal’s youth wing, on Monday moved a petition before Kerala High Court seeking a directive to the Enforcement Directorate to take up the case, which he says comes under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

Madavoor says he had earlier written to ED offices in Kerala and Delhi to probe the case.

State BJP president K. Surendran has told reporters his party has no links with the case and that the police are taking a heist investigation “beyond their jurisdiction”.

Infighting

However, the incident seems to have triggered questions and resentment among party cadres, sparking infighting that led to a BJP worker getting stabbed and injured on Sunday.

Police sources said two groups of BJP workers had got into an argument after one group blamed senior party leaders for the money-laundering controversy.

This apparently led to fisticuffs when a BJP worker, Kiran, came with friends to get his Covid vaccine on Sunday in Thrithallur, Thrissur. A rival group member allegedly stabbed him in the stomach.

Three suspects have been taken into custody and a search is on for a fourth, the suspected assailant. Kiran is in hospital.

LDF convener A. Vijayaraghavan had in April complained to the Election Commission about alleged money-laundering by the BJP to sabotage the Assembly elections.

The case has brought under focus Surendran’s pre-election claim that his party would come to power by winning just 35 of the 140 seats.

Surendran had not explained how, but it was assumed the BJP planned to buy MLAs to grab power, a template it is accused of carrying out in several states, including neighbouring Karnataka.