THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An investor who was allegedly duped by Nirmal Krishna Chit Fund Company was found hanging in his residence at Udiyankulangara near Parassala on Saturday. The deceased is Venugopalan Nair, 63, a resident of Kochottukonam, Udiyankulangara. The Parassala police have registered a case in connection with the incident. According to the police, Nair was found hanging in his bedroom around 3 pm. The police said Nair had deposited Rs 25 lakh in the chit fund company for the marriage of his younger daughter Vidya which is to be held in February next year. His body was found hanging by his daughter when she came home.
The police said it was a case of suicide as he was depressed over the uncertainty related to his daughter’s marriage after the company allegedly cheated him. He was also unhappy with the investigation being conducted by the Tamil Nadu police. Nair was working as the driver of a school bus at Neyyattinkara. The body has been handed over to the relatives after a post-mortem examination. Nair leaves behind wife Sreekumari Amma and daughters Divya and Vidya.
Meanwhile, the investigation to trace the culprits in the Nirmal Krishna Chit Fund fraud is moving at a snail’s pace. Though the Kerala police had convened a meeting with the Tamil Nadu police earlier following the DGP’s letter to his counterpart in Tamil Nadu, nothing concrete emerged. So far, the police have arrested only five persons. Twelve people, including the key accused and MD Nirmalan Krishnan Nair, are yet to be nabbed. The action council sources said the protests would be intensified in the coming days against the police apathy in nabbing the fraudsters.
Nirmal Krishna chit fund company, a finance firm which functioned in Palukal in Tamil Nadu and close to Kerala border, had allegedly duped over 13,600 investors from Kerala and Tamil Nadu who had deposited over Rs 500 crore under various investment schemes on the promise of good returns.