Thrissur: Praveen Rana, the prime accused in the multi-crore investment scam case who was arrested from his hideout on Wednesday, was remanded to custody till January 27.
Besides cheating (Sec 420 of IPC), Rana has been booked under the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act.
During interrogation, Rana told police that his bank account is empty and that a luxurious lifestyle and the craze for fame did him in. He also claimed his business partner, Kannur native Shaukat, had taken Rs 16 crore from him.
"The only asset remaining in my name is the 52 cents of land that I had recently bought in Palakkad," Rana reportedly told the police. However, the cops are not ready to buy the theory.
Rana also claimed that he lost money by financing two films and holding lavish wedding receptions across all the 14 districts in Kerala.
However, the investigation team hinted that the accused had withdrawn the amount in cash and stashed away the same as deposits in the name of benamis. They are probing the asset details of four of Rana’s aides.
As per the initial police assessment, the accused might have swindled over Rs 150 crore, as he allegedly collected Rs 1 lakh to Rs 20 lakh from several individual depositors after promising them up to 48% in interest.
30 cases so far
Meanwhile, the police have received over 100 complaints against Rana for fraud. The cops have registered over 30 cases so far. The Kannur Town police station alone received five complaints in which the complainants have accused Rana of cheating them of money ranging from Rs 7.5 lakh to 9.5 lakh.
How Rana took flight
Rana (37), owner of Thrissur-based ‘Safe and Strong’ chit fund, was apprehended by police from his hideout at a quarry in Devarayapuram, near Pollachi, on Wednesday. He had only around Rs 1,000 with him at that time. The cops also recovered six hard discs and a laptop from him. The hard discs may contain certain crucial information regarding Rana’s dubious financial dealings, police feel.
On January 6, Rana had escaped from a flat at Chilavannoor in Kochi by dodging a police team that arrived there looking for him. The cops later found out with the help of CCTV images that he fled in his luxury car and reached Angamaly. However, the accused sensed that the cops would follow the vehicle. He called a relative in Thrissur on phone and escaped in another car. There were four occupants, including Rana, in the car which crossed the state’s border with Tamil Nadu.
According to cops, the accused also got the help of a lawyer based in Kochi and he reached Coimbatore on the morning of January 7. The CCTV images at Paliyekkara and Panniyankara toll booths aided the police in tracing him.
The lack of any substantial money in his possession forced him to drop plans to flee to far-way places and finally he chose the quarry operated by Perumbavur-native Joy on a rental basis at Devarayapuram to hide from the search team.
Praveen Rana aka K P Praveen, a native of Veluthur, Arimpur, in Thrissur, was the chairman and managing director of ‘Safe and Strong’ investment firm. Praveen, who has an MBA degree after Engineering, set up the firm seven years ago as a business consultancy and chit-fund company before he started collecting deposits by promising high returns.
