Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 4 (IANS): Eyebrows were raised after Malayalam TV channels on Friday flashed the news of a reported Vigilance raid at the Kannur residence of A.P. Abdulla Kutty, national Vice President of the BJP.

Soon after the news was shown on television, Kutty, who had jumped ship from the CPI-M to the Congress before joining the BJP, told the waiting media in front of his house that it was not a raid.

"This is a preliminary enquiry (PE) about a complaint that the Vigilance got when I was the Congress legislator from Kannur in 2016 about a light & sound show that was conducted then. The complaint was that crores of rupees were being siphoned away. The Vigilance officials have come to me because it was my proposal. The show was inaugurated by then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy," said Kutty.

"It was a corrupt project and was handled by the Tourism Department and the District Tourism Promotion Council of Kannur through a fraudulent event management company. I am ready to face any probe. I am also ready to face any punishment if it is proven that I was involved in this," said Kutty.

The Vigilance sleuths also confirmed that they came to Kutty's residence as part of a preliminary enquiry, and not to conduct a raid.

"We received a complaint about the way the project was carried out. Since he was the legislator then, we came to meet him as part of the preliminary enquiry. This is not a raid," an officer said.

Kutty, 54, began his political career from the CPI-M's student wing. After becoming an MP twice on CPI-M ticket, he had joined the Congress and became a legislator twice. After his loss in the 2016 Assembly polls, he started to distance himself from the Congress before joining the BJP in 2019.