Kochi: The Forest Department took into custody Monson Mavunkal, the self-styled antique dealer who is under arrest, for interrogating him in connection with the cases filed under the Wildlife Protection Act.
The Kuruppampady Magistrate Court in Perumbavoor granted two days' custody of Monson to the Forest Department. He will be questioned at the Kodanad Forest Division Office.
The cases were registered against Monson after the police seized from his house antique pieces suspected to be ivory tusks, whale bones, conch and pearl.
Two bones of eight-feet length, suspected to be that of blue whales, were seized from his house. The seized articles were later sent for scientific examination. The Forest Department is waiting for the test results.
The Forest Department will question Monson about the source from which he got these articles. According to Forest Department sources, Monson will be taken to his house for evidence collection soon.
It was the Crime Branch, investigating the cheating cases involving Monson, which first informed the Forest Department about the presence of such suspected trophies at his home.
Though in the beginning, the inquiry team investigated complaints in connection with his financial fraud, later it was found by the sleuths that he was involved in other types of offences. Later, more such cases were registered.
Apart from forest cases, he was also charged under POCSO Act in a case in which the daughter of one of his employees was sexually abused.
Meanwhile, Monson's lawyers argued in the court that all the cases charged against him were fabricated by the police and other probe agencies.
They pointed out that even after repeatedly questioning Monson, till now the police could not recover the amount of Rs.10 crore which one of the complainants was said to have given to Monson.
In another development, the inquiry team and the doctors are engaged in a cold war regarding the medical examination of the main witness in the POCSO case.
The apprehension of the complainants is that Monson will benefit from the lapses suffered in the investigation. They also fear that the news about Monson's close contact with the top police officers would also help the accused.
