Nearly four years after valuables worth over ₹1.50 lakh were reported missing from the official residence of the chairman of the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA), Kadavathra police on Saturday arrested former GCDA Chairman N. Venugopal and three others officials of the development agency in that connection.
The accused surrendered before Kadavanthra police on the direction of a court and were released on bail shortly thereafter.
The case was registered in January 2017 after GCDA lodged a complaint regarding loss of valuables, including furniture and air conditioners, shortly after C.N. Mohanan took over from Mr. Venugopal as the new chairman following the change of guard at the State. The incident came to light when Mr. Mohanan visited the official residence shortly after assuming charge.
As per an initial estimate at the time of registering the case, valuables, including three air conditioners, three cots, a settee, television stand and even kitchen utensils, worth ₹1.51 lakh were missing. Though some of it were recovered a few months later from a fish farm being developed by GCDA at Mundamveli at that time, majority of them remain untraceable.
The employees, including a retired one, were arraigned in as accused as they were considered to be the custodians of the missing properties.
