THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The police have arrested 20 persons and recovered Rs 1,01,12,001 and 347gm of gold, mobile phones and watches that have been purchased using the Rs 3.5 crore hawala money robbed from Kodakara in Thrissur, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in the assembly on Monday.
Replying to a leave for adjournment motion by opposition MLA Shafi Prambil regarding the ongoing investigation into the hawala case involving BJP sympathisers, the chief minister said that all those arrested are in judicial custody and the police have already recorded the statements of 96 witnesses.
He said that the probe by the special investigation team is progressing very well and the government had also given the details of the probe to the enforcement directorate (ED) on June 1.
The matter also led to some political mudslinging between the ruling front and opposition.
The chief minister said that the UPA and NDA governments at the Centre have never been transparent about hawala or black money in the country.
None of the three reports prepared by three different agencies engaged by the Centre have seen the light of the day, he said.
He added that under the smokescreen of probes by central agencies, and supported by the BJP and Congress, hawala transactions were carried out during the election time.
However, opposition leader V D Satheesan took strong exception to the CM’s statement.
Referring to the gold smuggling case that had put the government in a fix in its previous tenure, he said now that since both the CPM and BJP have cases against each other, the investigation should not be compromised.
He said that the complaint into the robbing of money from Kodakara at 4.30am on April 4 was filed only on April 7.
Also, a pro-CPM media is giving out in advance details like which all witnesses would be summoned by the probe team.
This is giving the BJP leaders enough time to prepare while facing the SIT, he said.
Later, speaker M B Rajesh denied permission for the adjournment motion.