Medical team to assess sanity of man booked in lottery welfare fund misappropriation case

Thiruvananthapuram: A five-member medical team led by the superintendent of Medical College Thiruvananthapuram will subject Sangeeth K, the prime accused in the misappropriation of ₹14 crore from the Kerala State Lottery Agents and Sellers' Welfare Fund Board, to a mental health examination on February 17.

The team has been formed after repeated reminders by the Special Vigilance Court. It was on January 31 that the Court first directed the Medical College to form a medical board.

That day, when the investigation team of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Board arrived to take the first accused, Sangeeth, into custody for interrogation, the defence opposed the move, citing insanity. "Was he mentally sane while embezzling the funds?" the court had then orally remarked. Since Sangeeth was not available for interrogation, the police did not insist on the custody of the second accused, Anilkumar, too.

The Medical College did not respond to the first directive. So the Court issued yet another notice asking for the creation of a medical board. Following this, the Medical College superintendent submitted a written undertaking before the court on Wednesday, saying that the team has been constituted.

Sangeeth and Anilkumar were arrested on January 16. In fact, Sangeeth had demonstrated signs of mental instability at the time of arrest. Nonetheless, the medical report of the Peroorkada Mental Health Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, had ruled out insanity. On January 31, the defence had submitted more medical documents before the Vigilance Court as proof of Sangeeth's medical instability.

Sangeeth was a lower division clerk at the Kerala State Lottery Agents and Sellers' Welfare Fund Board. The VACB probe revealed that during his six years as LDC from 2014 to 2020, Sangeeth had diverted money from the Board's accounts to his and his friend Anilkumar's accounts. For this, he forged signatures of senior officers and manipulated official registers. The VACB said that the money so pilfered was invested mostly into real estate. The second accused and co-conspirator Anilkumar, was a contractor based in Vazhuthancaud. 

The VACB wanted Sangeeth in custody to know if more people from within the Board were involved in the scam. It also wants to ascertain whether Sangeeth had persisted with the fraud even after he left the Board in 2020.