Kannur: V Kunjikrishnan, a district committee member of the CPI(M), has openly spoken about fund embezzlement within the party in Kannur, one of the strongest bastions of the CPI(M) in Kerala. In a sensational revelation, Kunjikrishnan has accused party leaders of misappropriating money collected for the Dhanraj Martyr Fund, an issue that had been raised several times within the organisation in the past but was officially declared settled.
Kunjikrishnan made these disclosures in an interview with journalist Vinu V. John, describing in detail what he called the “mafia-like gang” that rules the CPI(M) in Kannur. According to Kunjikrishnan, Madhusoodanan embezzled large sums from the Dhanraj Martyr Fund, which was collected on July 11, 2016. He alleged that nearly Rs. 1 crore was collected in the name of the fund, of which around Rs. 46 lakh was misappropriated.
“The Dhanraj Martyr Fund was collected to build a house and conduct the legal case. Income and expenditure statements related to the fund were presented at an area committee meeting held on December 8 and 9, 2017. Construction of a house for Dhanraj’s family was also completed. However, Kunjikrishnan alleged that financial statements after 2017 were not properly presented until 2021, raising serious doubts about transparency.
Kunjikrishnan became the CPI(M) area secretary in 2020. He said that even after repeatedly asking for the accounts in 2021, he did not receive the figures in time. The statements were finally presented just before the 2021 party conference. He was then assigned the task of auditing the accounts before the Assembly session. “When I examined the figures, I found strange entries,” he said. “It was in this context that I began to closely examine the Dhanraj fund.”
According to him, the 2017 income statement showed that more than Rs. 10 lakh had been spent, and nearly Rs. 1 crore had been deducted from the total collections. He also said that irregularities were found when the accounts related to the construction of the house were examined.
After these discrepancies came to light, the area committee refused to approve the accounts. The official figure showed that Rs. 34.5 lakh had been spent on constructing the house. Kunhikrishnan pointed out that party workers had also provided voluntary labour and assistance for the construction, which should have reduced the actual expenditure significantly.
A cheque for Rs. 34 lakh was issued towards construction costs. However, when the cheque details were scrutinised, it was found that only Rs. 29.5 lakh had gone into the contractor’s account, while Rs. 5 lakh had been transferred to the account of the then area secretary, K. P. Madhu. In addition, an unexplained figure of Rs. 2 lakh was shown in the accounts.
“When the cheque was examined, it was found that this Rs. 2 lakh had also gone to the area secretary’s account,” Kunjikrishnan said. He further claimed that Rs. 40 lakh from the Dhanraj fund was shown as having been used for the construction of the party’s area committee building. According to him, there was no necessity to use the martyr fund for this purpose, as separate funds were already available for the building.
“While Dhanraj’s family was still burdened with debt, Rs. 40 lakh from the fund went missing,” Kunhikrishnan said.
The issue of embezzlement was first raised within the CPI(M) in Kannur nearly three years ago. At that time, the CPI(M) district secretary issued an explanatory note rejecting all allegations. The party officially stated that it would pay off the debts of Dhanraj.
In its statement, the CPI(M) attempted to defend itself by claiming that the fund had been used only for legitimate purposes. The party asserted that money was handed over to the family, a house was constructed, and legal expenses were met from the collected amount. These assurances, the party said, were repeatedly offered to the public while mobilising funds. However, these claims now stand in serious doubt in the light of fresh disclosures. The CPI(M) further stated that the loan in Dhanraj’s name at the Payyannur Cooperative Rural Bank had already been repaid. Party workers point out that these explanations appear designed more to pacify public anger than to address the core allegations of systematic diversion of martyr fund money, raising troubling questions about financial integrity at the highest levels of the party.
Despite these official explanations, the allegation that Rs. 42 lakh was embezzled from the Martyrs’ Family Assistance Fund in the Payyannur area has continued to haunt the party. Serious irregularities were alleged in the handling of the Payyannur Dhanraj Martyr Fund.
In response, the CPI(M) had earlier appointed T. V. Rajesh and P. V. Gopinath to investigate the embezzlement in Payyannur. Kunjikrishnan has now raised fresh questions about the credibility and findings of this internal inquiry commission as well. Kunjikrishnan’s latest revelations are being seen as potentially shaking the foundations of the CPI(M) in Kannur, a district long considered the party’s unassailable fortress. As a leader with considerable influence among the party ranks in Payyannur, his public allegations have added a new and volatile dimension to the controversy.
