Thodupuzha: A financier's death after brutal torture in a Kerala police station last month is unsettling to public over the cruelties meted out to him, though people are used to hearing about such crimes by cops. But what is intriguing is the murky financial deals that could have cost Kumar his live and the identity of the powers that be behind the scam, if any, and the tragedy. It is said that that large amounts of money were mobilised by his firm, Haritha Finance, based at Thookuopalam in Kerala's Idukki district close to the Tamil Nadu border. A top police officer's role is under a cloud even as eight cops of the Nedumkandam police station where he was subjected to third-degree torture have been suspended.
Kumar died on June 21 while in police custody.
Rapid rise and fall
Just two-and-a-half months ago, Vagamon native Kumar was a daily wager. He had studied only till class nine; and had to discontinue studies since he could not afford it.
Kumar's life transformed all of a sudden early this year after he opened a finance firm named Haritha Finance.
In March, he started Haritha Finance at Thookuopalam, near Nedumkandam. "I am in the midst of elite. I have wads of currency notes in my office. I can give you loans at 4 per cent interest rate," Kumar had told people who had applied for loan about two months ago. People who believed his words fell in his trap. However, plantation workers, housewives, Kudumbashree workers, government employees, political leaders and contractors who trusted him lost their money. Some police officers in the area too lost their money.
Lured natives
Haritha Finance office was opened after a field work in the area. From March, field staff were employed. They were promised Rs 10,000 to Rs 30,000 as salary.
Employees were recruited after taking Rs 25,000 as deposit.
Several people deposited big amounts as processing fee for requirements like foreign job, education, hospital treatment and house construction.
It is said the second accused in the case, Shalini, told the employees that black money belonging to influential people had to be distributed among people without the authorities knowing about it.
Shalini, an accused in a financial fraud case, is Kumar's live-in partner. He started to live with her in a rented house at Thookuopalam itself after leaving his house in the morning of April 17. His ties with wife Vijaya was naturally strained over this affair.
Rs 2cr lost
Haritha Finance officials had promised joint liability groups of five members each Rs 1 lakh to Rs 50 lakh as loan. The loan amount could increase in multiples of thousand. The amount collected from the victims were in the name of service charge. As collateral, they had to submit their photo, Aadhaar card and passbook copies, cheque leaf and a PAN card of one of the members of the group. They had to register by depositing Rs 1,000 for a Rs 1 lakh loan, Rs 2,000 for Rs 2 lakh loan, Rs 3,000 for a Rs 3 lakh loan and Rs 5,000 or a Rs 5 lakh loan.
The company duped victims of crores of rupees in registration fee. Three hundred self-financing groups fell victim to the fraud. Each group lost Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000. Thirty-four groups had filed complaints with the Nedumkandam police.
Early life
Kumar was the youngest of the two children of a plantation worker couple, late Kumaresan and Kasturi. Kumar and wife M Vijaya started living in Kolahalamedu estate 10 years ago.
He lost his job at the Bonami estate after a factory lockout, forcing him to find work within and outside the district as a daily labourer. In 2005, a co-worker had cut a vein on his leg, leaving him unable to do physical work. Since he could not even drive an autorickshaw, he hired a driver to run an auto that he bought.
In 2009, he received serious injuries on his left leg in an autorickshaw accident. He needed a steel rod implant to fix the leg. He had to sell his autorickshaw, which plunged his family in dire straits. Now, to look after the family, he again started working as a daily labourer.
After he was taken in custody in the financial fraud case, he was brought to the estate for as part of evidence collection on June 12.
Since he used to have an old-generation mobile phone, Vijaya wondered how Kumar, who doesn't even know how to use a touchscreen mobile phone, got involved in a cheating case running into crores of rupees.
Kumar's mother Kasturi is working as a domestic help in Kottayam. After her son's death, she has not reported to work.
