As part of its investigation, the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau has sought the details of the income sources of his wife.
Congress leaders Tariq Anwar, VD Satheesan, Rahul Gandhi and K Sudhakaran. (Twitter)
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief K Sudhakaran is now under fire from a new direction.
The vigilance wing of the Kerala Police has intensified its probe against him based on a complaint of graft and misappropriation of funds filed by his former driver two years ago.
As part of its investigation, the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) has sought the details of the income sources of his wife.
In a notice dated 15 June, the Kozhikode unit of the VACB sought the service particulars and salary details of Smitha Sudhakaran from the school authorities where she was working.
The Vigilance Bureau sought details like the net salary — including pay/DA, leave surrender, and other details — for a period starting in 2001.
According to the complaint lodged by his former driver, Prashanth Babu, in 2021, Sudhakaran allegedly siphoned off ₹32 crore from the funds received by the K Karunakaran Trust for building a memorial to Congress stalwart and former Kerala chief minister Karunakaran — a project that never took off.
The complainant also alleged that the KPCC president swindled funds collected for the construction of the Kannur DCC office.
Talking to reporters in New Delhi, where he reached to meet senior Congress leaders, Sudhakaran said the Left government has started investigating his financial sources.
“They have issued a notice to the principal of the school where my wife was working. Let them probe. I have nothing to hide,” said Sudhakaran reacting to the notice.
When the case was registered in 2021, Sudhakran dared the Marxist party-led Kerala government to prove the corruption charges against him and said he would end his political life if the investigators could do so.
Sudhakaran has reached New Delhi along with the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly VD Satheesan and is expected to hold meetings with senior Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, and discuss various matters, including the police cases against him.
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi tweeted in support of the Kannur strongman saying, “The Congress party doesn’t fear the politics of intimidation and vendetta.”
The Congress party doesn’t fear the politics of intimidation and vendetta. pic.twitter.com/9HLetpJyma
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 26, 2023
Sudhakaran was arrested and released on bail on 23 June in a cheating case involving a fake antique dealer and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act case convict Monson Mavunkal.
The Crime Branch arrested Sudhakaran based on complaints that he helped Mavunkal cheat a few people.
The complainants claimed that they gave ₹25 lakh to Mavunkal in Sudhakaran’s presence to release ₹2.62 lakh crore withheld by the Union government.
The amount, Mavunkal reportedly told the men, was the proceeds from the sale of antique items to royals in the UAE.
Meanwhile, the Congress party had directed Sudhakaran to file a defamation case against CPI(M) state secretary MV Govindan over his controversial statement accusing the Congress leader of being present when Mavunkal raped a minor — the daughter of one of the conman’s staff members — at his office.
Following the allegations against its chief, the KPCC has evolved a strong facade of unity, keeping group rivalries at bay — at least for the time being.
The party has stated in unequivocal terms that it would not allow Sudhakaran to step down by bowing to the “vengeance politics” of the chief minister and the LDF leadership.
(With PTI inputs)
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