KASARGOD: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) got the custody of Manjeshwar MLA MC Kamaruddin for two days on Monday, even as T K Pookoya Thangal, the other key accused in the Fashion Gold deposit scam, continues to evade arrest. The Judicial First Class Magistrate (JFCM) Court (I) granted police custody of the MLA for further questioning. He has tested negative for Covid.Kamaruddin has roped in senior criminal lawyer and Congress leader C K Sreedharan to argue his case. JFCM court (I) will take up his bail petition on Wednesday.
Kamaruddin was arrested on Saturday after 115 persons filed cheating cases against him and Pookoya Thangal for not returning their money deposited with Fashion Gold. Kamaruddin is the chairman and Pookoya Thangal, an Islamic religious leader, is the MD of four companies that ran Fashion Gold jewellery outlets at Kasaragod, Cheruvathur, and Payyannur.
Though they were accepting deposits since 2007, the companies started folding up in the last months of 2019, and they defaulted on paying the monthly dividends and on returning the money.Apart from Kamaruddin and Thangal, the SIT has also booked T P Hisham, son of Thangal and a director in the company, and Sainul Abid, a nephew of Thangal and the general manager of Fashion Gold outlets at three places.
Sainul Abid and Hisham were micromanaging the three stores in Kasaragod, Cheruvathur and Payyannur, IUML’s district treasurer Kallatra Mahin had told TNIE. The SIT had issued a look-out notice against Pookoya Thangal, Hisham and Sainul Abid but they continue to evade arrest. “We have not really tried to arrest Hisham and Abid. But we have summoned Pookoya Thangal, who is the main accused in most of the cases,” said a DySP, who is part of the SIT. He said the three went underground after the MLA was arrested.
Co-accused in hiding
T K Pookoya Thangal, the other key accused, continues to evade arrest
An Islamic religious leader, Pookoya Thangal is the managing director of four companies that ran Fashion Gold jewellery outlets in Kasaragod, Cheruvathur, and Payyannur