Fake antique dealer case: Kerala High Court slams police on its probe

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Friday gave a dressing down to the state police on the way it is conducting the probe in the fake antique dealer case.

Picking out issues point by point in the affidavit filed by the state police chief Anil Kant, it asked through whom did the top police officials get close to the "dealer" Monson Mavunkal.

When the case first surfaced last month, pictures of recently-retired state police chief Loknath Behra and present Additional Director General of Police Manoj Abraham visiting the "museum" of Mavunkal at Kochi went viral.

The court sought to know how come these top police officials never thought of how a museum like this can function as the rules are very clear and it also pointed that the police set up a daily beat box at Mavunkal's house and "museum".

It is known that the then state police chief wrote a letter for a probe and also gave directions for setting up the beat box, which looks contradictory, it said.

Noting that the report on the museum which the then state police chief asked for took eight months, the court wanted to know the reason for the delay.

The court asked for the production of the letters written by the SPC and posted the case for November 11.

The state counsel argued that the probe is going on in the right direction and by now the police have registered 10 cases which included even a case under The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences.

Mavunkal was arrested by the Crime Branch from his home-cum-museum last month after victims approached Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, complaining that they were swindled of Rs 10 crore by this "master fraud", who managed to even take the top Kerala Police officials for a ride.

Mavunkal sought to impress his high-profile guests by showcasing antiques in his collection which he claimed included the "staff of Moses" and "two of the 30 silver coins that were taken by Judas to cheat Jesus Christ".

Police said that he had showcased these "rare" items -- a throne said to be used by Tipu Sultan, as well as a huge collection of old Qurans, Bibles (Old Testament and New Testament), and old handwritten copies of Bhagavad Gita.

Mavunkal used to bring several VIPs to his palatial residence, a part of which was converted into museum to house his 'precious' antiques.

He is presently in judicial custody.