Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) Chief K Sudhakaran has been named as a second accused in the cheating case involving fake antique dealer Monson Mavunkal. The Kerala police named the Congress state unit president in the charge sheet filed at a court in Kochi, on Tuesday, March 5. The allegation against Sudhakaran was that a person named Anoop had given Rs 25 lakhs to Monson at his Kochi office in 2018. Sudhakaran was said to be present when the money was being handed over, and allegedly took Rs 10 lakhs himself from Anoop after promising to get a favour done for him.
Sudhakaran called the allegations ‘baseless’ and has claimed that he only visited Mavunkal as he claimed to be a cosmetologist. Sudhakaran was booked and arrested in this case by the Kerala crime branch police in June last year, but was later let out on bail. He also appeared before the enforcement directorate (ED) for questioning in the money laundering case.
Reacting to the development, Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan said that this was the government hounding the opposition. "Everyone knows Sudhakaran has no role at all and this is a clear-cut case of fabrication to trap him. We will deal with this case legally," he said.
Mavunkal, based in Kochi, had claimed that he had several antique items in his possession and cheated many people. He had also claimed he was a trained physician and had medical solutions for skin ailments. He had a huge network of friends including the then state Director General of Police, Loknath Behra, and several other top-ranking bureaucrats, police officers, and politicians.
In 2021, he was arrested, following which his practice of bringing VIPs to his lavish residence, which he had converted into a museum showcasing alleged precious antiques, was revealed. He claimed to possess items such as the "staff of Moses" and "two of the 30 silver coins that were taken by Judas to cheat Jesus Christ." Monson also displayed a throne attributed to Tipu Sultan and a vast collection of old Qurans, Bibles, and handwritten copies of the Bhagavad Gita. Images of influential individuals, including Additional Director General of Police Manoj Abraham, politicians, actors, and other celebrities visiting Monson's museum went viral when the case came to light.
In June 2023, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for sexually assaulting a minor girl. He was booked in the case in 2021 based on a complaint filed by the daughter of a staff member at Monson's cosmetic centre. The girl, who was 17 years old at the time, had alleged that Monson had sexually assaulted her several times since 2019 and impregnated her, after promising to help her get admission in college.
Read: Who is Monson Mavunkal? The ‘antique’ dealer whose arrest has hooked Kerala
(With IANS inputs)