The police on Monday recorded the statement of M.K. Raghavan, MP, the United Democratic Front candidate in the Kozhikode Lok Sabha constituency, over a Hindi news channel report in which he purportedly made claims about his election expenditure.
It is learnt that the police are planning to seek the original footage from the news channel and record the statements of its staff.
The Election Commission had earlier said that the authenticity of the footage would have to be examined before proceeding with the probe. Kozhikode District Collector S. Samba Siva Rao, who is also the District Electoral Officer, recently submitted a preliminary report to the Chief Electoral Officer, Kerala.
The investigation follows a complaint lodged by Mr. Raghavan with the police pointing out that the video footage telecast by the channel had been tampered with. He had also alleged that the Kozhikode district committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) hatched a conspiracy to trap him.
LDF demand
P.A. Mohamed Riyas, Left Democratic Front (LDF) campaign committee committee secretary, had sought an investigation into the financial transactions of Mr. Raghavan. It has been alleged that the video showed Mr. Raghavan seeking a kickback to help purchase land in the city.
Meanwhile, Mr. Raghavan told the media that he had left the issue to “the people” and the legal system. The Congress leader is learnt to have stuck to his allegation that the voice in the video has been doctored.
Despite the police serving a notice, Mr. Raghavan had failed to turn up before the investigating team to testify. He had claimed that he was busy with campaigning.
Following this, the police served another notice and reached his house on Monday morning to record his statement.