KASARAGOD: The Kasaragod session court acquitted BJP state president K Surendran and five others on Saturday in connection with the Manjeshwar bribery case. The case was dismissed before the trial started, as the court found insufficient evidence materials to proceed with it.

The case alleges that K Surendran bribed a another candidate, K Sundara, with a similar-sounding name to withdraw his nomination from the Manjeshwaram constituency in the 2021 assembly elections.

The bribery complaint against BJP state president K Surendran and five others was filed by VV Ramesan, the LDF candidate from Manjeswaram in the same election. The other accused included former BJP district president K Balakrishna Shetty, Yuva Morcha’s former state treasurer Sunil Naik, and party leaders K Manikanda Rai, Y Suresh, and Lokesh Noda.