Kerala Crime Branch names state BJP chief, 5 others in chargesheet for abducting poll candidate

Kerala Crime Branch names state BJP chief, 5 others in chargesheet for abducting poll candidate

Mangalore Today News Network / News18

Kasargod, Jan 12, 2023: The Kerala crime branch on Wednesday filed a chargesheet against Bharatiya Janata Party state president K Surendran and five others for allegedly bribing and kidnapping a “namesake” candidate for the Manjeshwaram seat during the 2021 assembly elections.

 

Bahujan Samaj Party nominee K Sundara was allegedly abducted, threatened, and bribed to withdraw the nomination.

Sundara himself told the media that he was kidnapped and was given Rs 2.5 lakh and a mobile phone to withdraw his nomination. Following this, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) candidate for the Manjeshwaram constituency in the 2021 assembly elections, VV Rameshan, had filed a complaint.

The charges against the accused are under sections 171b, 172e, 506, 342 of the Indian Penal Code and under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. A total of 115 witnesses have been mentioned.

The other accused include Manikanda Rai, Suresh Y, Sunilkumar alias Sunil Naik, Adv Balakrishna, and Lokesh Nonda.

Minister of state for external affairs and Kerala BJP leader V Muraleedharan in a press release said that the chargesheet against K Surendran is a conspiracy by the Pinarayi Vijayan government against his party. The minister said that the BJP cannot be destroyed by putting false cases against Surendran.