Thiruvananthapuram : In an interview with Deshabhimani, Biju Ramesh, among other things said, Rs 1 crore in form of notes was personally handed to Ramesh Chennithala at Indira Bhavan.
Excerpts:
The currency notes carried to Indira Bhavan were packed in a large textile bag. When Biju appeared before Chennithala, the latter asked him to leave the bag in the backroom. The bribe deal was sealed following threats that Bar, Beer-Wine Parlour license fee would be raised. They used 2012 pre-budget discussions to make good on that threat.
The fee of 22 lakhs would be raised to 30 lakh rupees, K Babu had said. A payment of Rs 25 lakh was fixed as initial payment. A lump sum of Rs 23 lakh should come soon after the meeting and Rs 2 lakh along with the remaining of the total Rs 10 crore., Babu had said.
There are roughly 700 bar hotels and beer-wine parlours in the state. Rs 1.5 lakh was collected from each of these units, split up as Rs 1 lakh toward political fund and Rs 50,000 as legal fund. The breakup and amount was recorded in the Association’s secret book. The bar owners testified to Vigilance on the payments they made. There are voice recordings of bar owners in this context. These voice clips had been submitted to the court along with Biju’s secret testimony.
Monies collected from bars in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha were handed to Chennithala in form of notes. The sum was divided into Rs 1 crore for Chennithala and a half crore for Babu. Rs 25 to Sivakumar was withdrawn from bank account belonging to a bar owner from Trivandrum. This sum was eventually returned, said Biju.
