A midnight police raid at a hotel occupied by Congress women leaders in the Palakkad Assembly constituency on Tuesday triggered protests and clashes between Congress workers and the police. The police claimed the search was for alleged black money, but they found nothing in the hotel.

A large police team from the North and South police stations in Palakkad conducted a search at a hotel where Congress leaders, including Shanimol Usman and Bindu Krishna, were staying. The police team, including plainclothes ones, searched the rooms on suspicion of hidden black money. Concerns arose when officers tried to enter a female leader’s room without the presence of female officers. Congress supporters quickly assembled outside the hotel to protest the police action. The police claimed that the raid was based on a tip-off about black money transactions linked to UDF/Congress candidate Rahul Mamkoottathil. However, Congress leaders said that the raid was a pre-planned attempt to implicate them in black money dealings and score brownie points ahead of the November 20 elections.

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The raid began in the room of Congress leader Bindu Krishna, after which the squad proceeded to the room of former MLA Shanimol Usman. However, Usman did not allow the officers to enter inside, insisting that only female police officers be allowed to enter. By this time, more Congress workers had gathered at the scene and the situation grew increasingly tense. Soon after, Shafi Parambil MP and VK Sreekandan MP reached the hotel and held discussions with the police to defuse the situation. Despite their efforts, the situation eventually escalated into a physical altercation.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Aswathy Jiji told the media that it was a routine inspection as part of election procedures. She explained that female police presence is not mandatory for every search; however, in this instance, officers refrained from searching a particular room when it was requested that only female officers perform the inspection.

Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan alleged conspiracy on the entire chain of events. The opposition leader alleged that the BJP-CPI-M collusion is behind the raid.

Meanwhile, the CPI-M has filed a complaint with the district police chief, demanding a comprehensive investigation into the allegations of black money reaching Palakkad ahead of the by-election. According to the complaint filed by the CPI-M Palakkad district secretary, the accused in the fake identity card case, Feny, delivered the money in a blue trolley.

The BJP also filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India. In its complaint, the BJP alleged that the UDF is using large amounts of illicit funds to influence the by-election and urged the Election Commission to investigate the matter. It also requested to check the hotel’s CCTV footage.

Police on Wednesday afternoon seized the CCTV hard disk of the KPM Hotel where the controversial search was conducted by the police on Tuesday midnight. A team of cyber experts led by Town South Circle Inspector Adam Khan seized the hard disk.