The Kerala police on Saturday arrested Muslim League legislator from north Kerala M C Kamaruddin in connection with an alleged gold investment cheating case. He was the chairman of Fashion Gold, a chain of jewellery shops started with the help of local funding. The jewellery chain closed four months back after accumulated loss leaving many investors in the lurch.
More than 110 cases were filed against the promoters and investors blamed the mismanagement and misappropriation of funds for the loss. According to the police, investors have lost between Rs 30 to Rs 50 crore. When the case cropped up two months back, the Muslim League had asked the legislator to take up immediate steps to repay money to investors but he sought more time. The party is likely to action against him.
Many opposition leaders said the arrest was a politically motivated to distract attention from the issues the government was facing. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s principal secretary M Sivasankar was arrested in connection with gold smuggling case and the CPI(M) state secretary’s son Bineesh Kodiyeri was detained in Bengaluru last week in a money laundering case related to a drug bust.
Opposition leaders said Kamaruddin was arrested when he was trying to settle the issue. The Muslim League was in the forefront of attack against the CM and his cabinet colleague K T Jaleel in the gold smuggling case.
