Dubai: Prominent Keralite jeweller M M Ramachandran, widely known as Atlas Ramachandran, has finally been released from a UAE jail. A Dubai court had sentenced Ramachandran to three years in jail after his cheques to the tune of Dh 3.40 crore, or about Rs 61.2 crore, bounced. He had also defaulted on repaying a Rs 1,000 crore loan. Ramachandran has been in jail since August, 2015.
Earlier, external affairs minsiter Sushma Swaraj had intervened, seeking the popular jeweller's release. Ramachandran's family had held talks with the then BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan in January. Kummanam passed on Ramachandran's details to Sushma Swaraj and BJP national secretary Ram Madhav. The Centre then took the initiative. As details of Ramachandran's assets were presented, the banks agreed to withdraw their complaints.
Ramachandran, a native of Thrissur, had also produced a number of films that were celebrated in Malayalam cinema, including Vaishali and Vasthuhara. In 2010, he directed a movie: Holidays. He had also ventured into real estate business.
Atlas Groups had its first showroom in Kuwait in 1981.
The group reportedly had 50 showrooms in the United Arab Emirates Saudi Arabia, Qatar and India. Reports said the group's turnover was Dh 3.5 billion at one point of time.
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