Midnight police raid ignites political firestorm in Palakkad

The electoral heat in Palakkad has dramatically escalated into a nasty confrontation between the Congress and CPI(M). The spark that ignited this intense stand-off was a police raid on the rooms of two Congress women leaders at KPM Regency hotel here, which began around midnight and continued into the early hours of Wednesday.

The electoral heat in Palakkad has dramatically escalated into a nasty confrontation between the Congress and CPI(M). The spark that ignited this intense stand-off was a police raid on the rooms of two Congress women leaders at KPM Regency hotel here, which began around midnight and continued into the early hours of Wednesday.

The police raided the hotel reportedly on the basis of a tipoff that United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate Rahul Mamkootathil had a bagful of black money with him. However, Assistant Police Superintendent Aswati Jiji said that it was a routine raid in view of the upcoming byelection. She said they raided 12 rooms at the hotel.

Congress leaders Shanimol Usman and Bindu Krishna protested as the police team raided their rooms. Ms. Usman resisted the raid saying there was no woman police officer in the team. The police later examined the room by bringing in a woman officer. The police said they did not find any black money.

Even as the raid progressed, CPI(M), BJP and Congress workers and local leaders gathered at the hotel were engaged in heated arguments. At some point, the standoff slipped into a showdown between the party workers. CPI(M) workers led by A.A. Rahim, MP, and Nithin Kanichery alleged that the Congress workers helped their leader remove the black money from the hotel by creating a ruckus.

Congress leaders V.K. Sreekandan, MP, and Shafi Parambil, MP, reached the hotel and questioned the midnight raids on the rooms of Ms. Usman and Ms. Krishna without the presence of a woman officer. Although the police said that the raid was conducted with the concurrence of the Election Commission, the absence of any electoral officers raised suspicions. The Revenue Divisional Officer and the Additional District Magistrate reached the scene after 2 a.m. They said they had not been informed.

Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan accused Minister for Local Administration M.B. Rajesh of scripting the ‘raid drama’ with the help of his brother-in-law Nithin Kanichery. “He has no moral right to continue as Minister. He should resign immediately. Shame on him,” said Mr. Satheesan.

Mr. Mamkootathil said he had gone to Kozhikode to meet Sunni leader Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliar when the raid took place. CPI(M) and BJP leaders alleged that he escaped during the raid.