Money was collected for building fund, Animon suspended; V Sunil Kumar responds

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Federation of Kerala Hotels Association president V Sunil Kumar has denied the allegation that he had directed to collect money from bar owners in return for favourable liquor policies of the state government. Speaking to the media, he alleged that the voice message sent through WhatsApp by the organisation's vice president Animon was part of a conspiracy.

"We had asked each member of the organization to contribute Rs 1 lakh towards the building fund. The other day, we decided to suspend Animon for attempting to split the organization," Sunil Kumar said.

"There are 650 members in our organization. We had decided to buy a building in Thiruvananthapuram for the organization. However, some members opposed this move saying that there was no need for an office in Thiruvananthapuram as the organization already has an office in Kochi. Although the decision to purchase the building was taken twice, it could not be implemented due to opposition from the members. We then decided to strongly implement the decision to buy the building. The full amount should be paid by the end of this month," he said.

"We have to pay Rs 5.60 crore to the American Malayali who owns the building. 60 lakhs should be paid for the registration cost. However, we have managed to collect only about Rs 4.50 crore from 450 members so far. Rs 1 lakh was collected from each person. All transactions have taken place through the bank account. We have to find the remaining amount by May 30. For that, each member of the Executive Committee was asked to lend Rs 2.50 lakhs to the State Committee," he added.

"However, members, including Animon, again opposed this move. Some leaders from Idukki and Kollam, including Animon, started efforts to form a new organization right from the time it was decided to buy the building in Thiruvananthapuram. These efforts started two months back. In the meeting held last day, the matter was discussed in the presence of Animon. The committee criticised Animon's moves and decided to suspend him. Following this, Animon stormed out of the meeting," Sunil Kumar said.