Thiruvananthapuram: Thushar Vellapally, president of Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), a coalition partner of the BJP-led NDA in Kerala, has been arrested at Ajman in UAE in connection with a Rs 19 crore cheque bounce case.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote Thursday to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, seeking his intervention in the matter.
Thushar Vellapally is also the vice-president of the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam, a prominent organisation of the backward Ezhava community in the state.
The arrest was made on a complaint from a Thrissur native N Abdulla who was handed the Rs 19 crore cheque in 2009. Vellapally, then was running a construction business in Ajman, according to media reports here.
It should be stated that Thushar Vellapally had unsuccessfully contested as the NDA candidate from the Wayanad constituency in the Lok Sabha elections this year. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had emerged triumphant from the seat.
In the letter written to Jaishankar, a copy of which was released to the media here, Pinarayi Vijayan expressed concern about the well being and health of Thushar Vellapally.
“News channels have reported the arrest of Shri Thushar Vellapally, vice-president of Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) yogam at Ajman in United Arab Emirates. I express concern about his well-being and health while in custody. All possible help within the limits of law needs to be made available to him. I request your kind personal attention and intervention in this regard,” Vijayan wrote in the letter.
PTI
