The Kollam East police on Tuesday seized counterfeit currency of `2.85 lakh from the residence of a former officer of ISRO at Mudavanmughal, Poojappura here and arrested him and his accomplice for their alleged links with the counterfeit racket.
The police team, led by East Sub-Inspector G Gopakumar, reached the flat, seized the money and arrested Madhava Kurup, a former officer of the ISRO, and his accomplice Sunil Thomas of Pettah around 9.30 a.m. Another accomplice Thavassimuthu of Chullimannoor near Nedumangad was also nabbed by the police. Kurup landed in the police net as his role in the counterfeit currency business came to light when the East Police questioned Anilkumar, a grade Additional Sub-Inspector of the AR camp in the city.
He who was arrested on Monday night is also allegedly a part of the racket. Anilkumar was taken into custody on Sunday and the arrest was recorded on Monday. Two persons, Thankaraj and Mani, hailing from Tamil Nadu, were arrested from Kollam railway station with fake money of Rs 6.5 lakh on May 29. It was after questioning them that the police got information about their ‘nexus’ with
Kurup, Anilkumar, Sunil Thomas and Thavassi Muthu. “Anilkumar was under observation for the past many days. He provided the information which led to Kurup and Thomas. Kurup is the kingpin of the racket,” said G Gopakumar. Konganan, another person from Tamil Nadu, was also held by the East police a week ago following a tip-off given by Thankaraj and Mani. The police have registered a fresh case with Anilkumar, hailing from Nedumangad in the district, as the first accused. Kurup is also an accused in a counterfeit currency case registered at the Neyyatinkara police station in 2011 in which two other former officers of ISRO were also accused. Fake currency of `45,000 was seized from the accused in the case.
The investigation of the case was later taken over by the Crime Branch. One of the accused, Raja Mohammed, died during the investigation and Kurup was absconding.