MALAPPURAM: Barely a day before the Vengara assembly by-election, the police on a tiff-off on Tuesday seized unaccounted money worth Rs 79,76,000 from Kuttippuram railway station allegedly carried to the constituency where they reside. Cops arrested IUML’s local leaders identified as Abdul Rahman, 43, a district leader of Swathanthra Thozhilali Union’s (STU) construction workers' wing and Sidheeq, 24. The STU is a trade union affiliated to the IUML.
They arrived on the Mangalore bound Chennai Mail at 7 am. Police said the money was brought from Chennai. "They are being questioned to trace the exact source," Nipum Sankar, SI of Kuttippuram, said. “At the moment we have no clues if it was meant to distribute among voters. The investigation is on.” However, their IUML connection prompted CPM and BJP to cry foul. CPM leader A. Vijayaraghavan said his party would approach the Election Commission on money flow into the constituency to woo voters. BJP district committee also alleged that both the UDF and LDF were trying to bag votes with money.
