'Had received Rs 10 lakhs from Nandakumar as advance for land deal, did not give it back as he cheated me'; Sobha Surendran

ALAPPUZHA: Sobha Surendran, the NDA candidate in Alappuzha, has admitted that she had received Rs 10 lakhs from broker Nandakumar. She said that she received the money from Nandakumar as an advance for a land deal.

"I had some financial difficulties when my sister's husband was undergoing treatment for cancer. During that time, I had asked Nandakumar if he could buy the 8 cents of land that was in my name. He agreed to buy the land and gave me Rs 10 lakhs as advance," Sobha Surendran said at a press conference.

"After agreeing to buy the land, Nandakumar first said that he would give Rs 10 lakhs in cash. However, I told him to transfer the amount through the bank account. I received Rs 10 lakhs from him as the advance for the land deal. I did not return the advance money as he cheated me after saying that he would buy the land. I have not yet sold that land to anyone. I'll sell it only to Nandakumar," Sobha said.

"Nandakumar has come up with this allegation after foreseeing that I would win in Alappuzha. Two years ago, Nandakumar came to Thrissur and met me. He said that he'll bring some prominent leaders from CPM to the BJP. He is the one who wandered in the BJP national office claiming that he would bring a top leader of the CPM to the BJP," she said.

"Nandakumar tried to split the CPM. We will receive anyone from the CPM except Pinarayi. However, Nandakumar demanded several crores from the BJP leaders in Delhi to bring in the CPM leader to the BJP camp. While CPM state secretary MV Govindan's Janakeeya Prathirodha Yatra was going on, a senior CPM leader came to my room in Ramanilayam and held discussions with me. Let Nandakumar tell why that discussion was held. Back then, some reports had claimed that this CPM leader would split the CPM," Sobha added.