Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala police on Sunday said they have formed a special investigation team to probe into the cases against the antiques dealer Monson Mavunkal.
Thiruvananthapuram Range IG G Sparjan Kumar would lead the team, an order issued by State police chief Anilkant said. Crime Branch chief S Sreejith would monitor the probe, the police chief said in a press release.
Crime Branch Ernakulam SP M J Sojan, Kozhikode Vigilance SP P C Sajeeban, Guruvayoor Deputy Superintendent of Police K G Suresh, Pathanamthitta Crime Branch Deputy SP J Umesh Kumar and four police inspectors are also in the team.
A native of Cherthala, Mavunkal who claims to be in possession of rare and historic antiques was arrested last week by the Crime Branch wing of the Kerala police probing into complaints against the dealer of having swindled Rs 10 crore from several people.
The issue snowballed into a political controversy as images of Mavunkal, along with Congress chief K Sudhakaran, came out.
Sudhakaran had said he had gone to Mavunkal's residence for treatment as the latter claimed to be a trained cosmetologist.
Mavunkal had allegedly made false representations about himself and his business to various people and collected money from them. Many images of Mavunkal with senior police officers and bureaucrats of the State have come out.
