The Kerala Crime Branch police on Tuesday summoned Arjun Radhakrishnan, son of Congress veteran and former Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, for questioning in connection with the alleged bid to raise funds from bar owners to “bribe” the State government for a “permissive” Excise policy.
The startling turn of events threatened to dampen the Opposition’s intensifying street protests, which were intended to arm-twist the government into ordering a judicial inquiry into the alleged scam.
On Tuesday, the police used water cannons to disperse a group of Youth Congress activists who marched to the Assembly to press the demand. The protest turned violent when the Opposition activists tried to pull down the police barricades near the Legislative complex.
The Crime Branch summoned Mr. Arun Radhakrishnan to its office in Thiruvananthapuram on the premise that he was the administrator of the bar hotel owners’ WhatsApp group, which transmitted the controversial “bribe-raising” demand as a voice note to its members.
Mr. Arun Radhakrishnan attempted to distance himself from the scandal by stating that not he but a close relative of his was in the bar hotel business.
The Opposition had seized on the contentious voice note, which went viral on social and mainstream media, to accuse the government of dangling the prospect of extended bar timings and lifting the ban on the sale of liquor on the first of every month as a quid pro quo for sizeable backhanders from the so-called bar lobby.
The Opposition staged a walkout in the Assembly on Monday, demanding an anti-corruption inquiry into the “behind-the-scenes manoeuvring” to wring bribes from bar owners.
The United Democratic Front (UDF) also sought to implicate Tourism Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas and Excise Minister M.B. Rajesh in the scandal.
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan alleged that the Tourism department had overstepped its jurisdiction and called a meeting of stakeholders to discuss the formulation of a new and “advantageous” liquor policy. He said the political executive had used the meeting as a carrot to seek bribes from bar owners.
In 2013, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) launched a similar agitation that rocked the Oommen Chandy government. The LDF then levelled similar accusations against the then government. The protests cost Finance Minister K.M. Mani and Excise Minister K. Babu their Cabinet posts and put the then government on the defensive.
