KOCHI: The Crime Branch wing of the Kerala police has sought KPCC president K Sudhakaran's appearance before it in connection with a cheating case involving controversial antique dealer Monson Mavunkal.
A police officer confirmed that Sudhakaran has been served a notice under CrPC Section 41 A, seeking his appearance before the crime branch team probing the case here on June 14.
The crime branch decided to interrogate the KPCC president based on a statement by complainants who lost their money in the cheating case that they had handed over the money to Mavunkal in the presence of Sudhakaran.
Earlier, the agency had submitted an additional report before the court here, making Sudhakaran an accused in the case. When the allegations cropped up against him two years ago, Sudhakaran denied them.
The issue had snowballed into a political controversy as images of Mavunkal, along with Congress chief K Sudhakaran, came out.
Sudhakaran had said he had gone to Mavunkal's residence for treatment, as the latter claimed to be a trained cosmetologist.
Mavunkal had allegedly made false representations about himself and his business to various people and collected money from them. Many images of Mavunkal with senior police officers and bureaucrats of the state have come out.
Cherthala native Mavunkal, who claims to be in possession of rare and historic antiques, was arrested by the Crime Branch in September 2021. He is facing charges of having swindled Rs 10 crore from several people.
The Crime Branch move against Sudhakaran comes three days after the CPI(M)-led LDF government ordered a vigilance probe against his party colleague and Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly V D Satheesan.
That case is related to the receipt of foreign funds from abroad, for a project in Satheesan's constituency, which allegedly violated the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA).