THODUPUZHA: The resignation of KM Mani, who was the finance minister during the UDF regime, was also due to the voice recording of the current controversial figure Bar owner Animon. Biju Ramesh revealed that KM Mani took money from the bar owners to open the closed bars by releasing a 22-minute long audio recording of Animon from the Bar Hotel Owners Association Steering Committee meeting.

The audio recording said that Mani had demanded 30 crores for granting operational permission to three star and four star bars. In the audio recording, Animon said that he had delivered Rs 5 crore to KM Mani's house in Pala. These five crores belonged to Sunil Kumar, who was the then district secretary of the Bar Hotel Owners Association, Thiruvananthapuram and the current president of the Federation of Kerala Hotels Association.

Following the controversy of that day, the Bar Hotel Owners Association was split and the Federation of Kerala Hotel Association was formed. Animon was the district president and state vice president of this organization. In the executive meeting held in Kochi, there was criticism that Idukki and Kollam district committees failed to collect money correctly.

Animon, a loyalist of the organization, was ready to respond only yesterday evening, two days after the release of the audio recording. His phone was switched off. State President Sunil Kumar also gave the same explanation on Friday. Animon has bar hotels in Thodupuzha, Perumbavoor, Thrissur and Palakkad. His real name is Jayakrishnan.