Midnight police raid ignites political firestorm in Palakkad

The electoral heat in Palakkad has dramatically escalated into a nasty confrontation between the Congress and CPI(M). The spark that ignited this intense stand-off was a police raid on the rooms of two Congress women leaders at KPM Regency hotel here, which began around midnight and continued into the early hours of Wednesday.

The police raided the hotel reportedly on the basis of a tipoff that United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate Rahul Mamkootathil had a bagful of black money with him. However, Assistant Police Superintendent Aswati Jiji said that it was a routine raid in view of the upcoming byelection. She said they raided 12 rooms at the hotel.

Congress leaders Shanimol Usman and Bindu Krishna protested as the police team raided their rooms. Ms. Usman resisted the raid saying there was no woman police officer in the team. The police later examined the room by bringing in a woman officer. The police said they did not find any black money.