KOCHI: Ernakulam judicial first class magistrate court on Tuesday sent self-styled antique collector Monson Mavunkal to Crime Branch custody for three days.
Mavunkal was sent to custody in a cheating case registered by the CM against him based on a complaint filed by Rajeev Sreedharan, a native of Pala.
According to the case, Mavunkal had allegedly swindled the complainant out of Rs.1.72 crore on false promise of getting an estate, owned by Madhya Pradesh government in Wayanad, on lease for him.
Sreedharan has reportedly deposited a total of Rs 1.72 crore into four bank accounts in the name of Mavunkal’s employees with the hope of getting the 500 acres of estate land in Wayanad on lease. However, he filed a complaint after realizing that he was cheated.
The court decided to send Mavunkal to CB custody even though his lawyer opposed the application. CB had Mavunkal in custody earlier in connection with the probe into another cheating case registered against him in which he swindled out around Rs.10.5 crore.
“CB will interrogate Mavunkal until the custody period expires on Thursday evening. At present there are five cases registered against Mavunkal. Though he used fake antiques to lure people into his fraud, it seems he had not sold any of it to anyone,” said an officer.
Meanwhile, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on Tuesday inspected the authenticity of the Copper inscription related to Sabarimala that was in Mavunkal’s possession. CB has requested ASI to inspect the copper plate after a controversy erupted around its authenticity.
“ASI officials from Mattancherry inspected the copper plate. They will submit a report within two days. Earlier ASI had inspected the plate while they conducted a preliminary inquiry into Mavunkal’s antique collection,” said the officer.
