KASARAGOD: A month after the Special Investigation Team (SIT) arrested Manjeshwar MLA MC Kamaruddin for allegedly duping depositors in gold jewellery businesses, the other key accused -- TK Pookoya Thangal, his son A Hisham and nephew Zainul Abid -- continue to evade arrest. Officially, they have been on the run since November 7, when Kamaruddin was arrested.
Thangal is a religious Sunni leader with considerable influence among Muslims. He is also the managing director of four companies which ran Fashion Gold jewellery stores. Hisham is a director and Zainul Abid was the general manager of the four stores, closed between October and December 2019. Kamaruddin is the chairman of the companies.
Yet, only Kamaruddin has been arrested. "He has been made a scapegoat by the LDF to score brownie points during the local body election," said IUML leader fromTrikaripur V Kunhibava. The MLA continues to be in judicial custody in Kannur Central Jail.
The depositors alleged that the police were going slow on the investigation after the arrest of Kamaruddin. Last week, they took out a march to the office of the District Police Chief to demand the arrest of the other accused.
"The police are happy with the arrest of Kamaruddin. There is no effort on their part to find the whereabouts of Thangal and family," said Hasheem, whose wife and mother-in-law have invested in Fashion Gold.
The police are also not looking at the role of the other directors in the companies, he alleged. "We have named at least 10 directors but the police have named only four accused," he said.
'Thangal will be arrested by December end'
The special investigation team's head assistant superintendent of police (ASP) Vivek Kumar said Thangal is the accused no. 1 in the case and he will be arrested by the end of December. He said the police were busy with the election now. "But it is a matter of time before he is arrested," Kumar said.
He ruled out that Thangal and company have escaped from the country because there were lookout notices against them. He said that the ASP said there were 116 cases registered against the accused and Kamaruddin had been arrested in 76 cases. Thangal is the accused no. 1 in all the cases.
Investigating officers said that they had concrete evidence of Thangal and Kamaruddin illegally amassing wealth from the company. "We have documentary evidence of them collecting money from depositors but the money has not reflected in the bank accounts of the companies," said an officer who is part of the SIT.
On booking other directors of the companies, the officers said that they were working on finding evidence against them. "They were more like shareholders than directors but we are looking at their role," he said.