PATHANAMTHITTA/T’PURAM: Pathanamthitta police on Friday arrested Akhil Sajeev, 33, who committed job fraud using Health Minister Veena George’s office as a front, from Tamil Nadu. A special police team led by DySP S Nandakumar picked Akhil up from Theni bus stand around 4am on Friday for allegedly swindling Rs 3.5 lakh from the CITU Pathanamthitta district committee office in 2022. Pathanamthitta police have also booked him on the complaint of a Vallicode native who alleged that Akhil collected Rs 4 lakh from him after offering him a job.
The Cantonment police team probing the cash-for-job allegation had also questioned Akhil and collected details about his involvement in the case. The team sought details about his phone numbers and accounts from Akhil, the first accused in the case. Police will seek his custody on Saturday and his arrest will be recorded in the cash-for-job scam after that.
Meanwhile, the remand report of third accused M K Raees filed by the police in Thiruvananthapuram said Akhil and Lenin were the ones who got monetary benefits by conning Malappuram native Haridas and his daughter-in-law.
It said Akhil Mathew, the personal staff of Health Minister Veena George against whom Haridas fired the salvo of corruption first, did not talk to the accused over phone nor had any bank transactions with them. The report said the cash transaction took place between Lenin and Akhil Sajeev, while the latter conspired with Raees to fabricate an email ID in the name of Ayush Mission.
The cantonment police had registered the case on the complaint of Akhil Mathew.
DySP Nandakumar told TNIE that Akhil Sajeev did not know the personal staff members of Health Minister Veena George. The latter have no role in the crime committed by Akhil Sajeev.