MALAPPURAM: The crusher case between Nilambur MLA PV Anvar and Saleem Naduthodi has reached a crucial stage. Recently, the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, Manjeri, rejected the finding of the Malappuram crime branch that the case is of a civil nature.
After analysing the report submitted by the crime branch recently, the court said the team failed to submit the documents to prove the claim that it is a civil case. If the court finds a cheating element, the MLA will have to undergo seven years of imprisonment and pay a fine.
The court has asked the crime branch officers to continue the investigation into the case and file a fresh report soon. The crime branch has been investigating the case for the past several years based on a complaint from Saleem, a native of Pattarkadavu in Malappuram. Saleem complained that the MLA had cheated him of Rs 50 lakh by making a fake claim that he owned K E Stone Crusher in Belthangady taluk of Karnataka.
Meanwhile, Sadik Naduthodi, a relative of Saleem, alleged that the crime branch is trying to help the MLA by making the claim that the case is of a civil nature. “Anvar accepted Rs 50 lakh from Saleem in 2012 claiming that he owned the crusher in Karnataka. Anvar offered Rs 50,000 in return for the investment every month. But the MLA failed to give the returns as per the agreement with Saleem.
Later, we came to know that the MLA didn’t own the crusher in Karnataka. Hence, it is a clear case of cheating. However, the crime branch is trying to protect the MLA,” Sadik said. “It informed the court recently in its report that this case is of a civil nature. However, it failed to submit the documents to prove it,” Sadik said.
The CJM Court started overseeing the crime branch investigation into the case on August 11, 2021, after receiving the complaint from Saleem that the agency was deliberately trying to delay the investigation to protect the MLA.
Crime branch insists on its finding
Malappuram: A source with the crime branch department said the documents to prove the civil nature of the case were submitted before the court by the Manjeri police in 2018. The Manjeri police were investigating the case then. “The court did not consider the documents submitted by the Manjeri police while rejecting our findings. We will resubmit the documents before the court on Wednesday and those documents will prove that it is a civil case. P V Anvar has actually purchased the crusher from a person named Ibrahim. These are the facts, but we have to go with the legal process,” the source said. “Also, Anvar has accepted the fact that he had taken the money from the petitioner and said he would return the money.”