Monson Mavunkal is the new ‘star’ in Kerala’s landscape. A school dropout from Alappuzha district, Monson has literally taken Keralaites for a ride with his glib speech, cavalcade of swanky high-end imported cars and display of wealth.
The VIPs who fell for this fraudster who introduced himself as a collector of rare antique artefacts include two Ministers in the Pinarayi Vijayan Cabinet, KPCC chief K Sudhakaran, former chief of Kerala Police Loknath Behra, additional director general Manoj Abraham, MPs, MLAs and even superstars of the movie industry.
The crime branch sleuths who took him into custody have been grilling him for more details. Monson who cheated a group of people by defrauding them to the tune of Rs 6 crore has been arrested early this week by the Crime Branch wing of Kerala Police, but not before pictures of Behra and Abraham sitting atop a chair which the former had claimed as the royal chair of Tippu Sultan. Abraham was seen holding a sword which Monson portrayed as the favorite dagger used by Tippu. But sources in Police said that all antique materials in Monson’s custody were either fake or counterfeit.
The confidence trickster went to the extent of claiming that he had in his collection the ‘staff of Moses’, the olive oil lamp used by Razool, one of the prophets and the original of the rare paintings by classical painters.
The Government of Kerala even used a 350 old copper plaque with inscription stating that the holy shrine of Sabarimala was never a Hindu pilgrimage center in its affidavit to the Kerala High Court in connection with the case of women’s entry in Sabarimala.
Visitors to his house in a suburb in Ernakulam were taken aback when they saw the artefacts adoring the cupboard in the high security drawing room.
He had in his collection two of the thirty silver coins which were given to Judas in exchange for betraying Jesus Christ and many such things.
He defrauded many people in the State with the claim that Rs 2,60,000 crore which was sent to him from abroad had been held back by the union finance ministry and he needed Rs 10 crore to get the cash released.
Monson’s social media page is full of pictures of him rubbing shoulders with the power and mighty of Kerala. K Sudhakaran, while speaking to reporters, said he knew Monson as a fitness expert and had sought his help to get rid of a medical disorder. Congress MP Haiby Eden has issued a stern warning to the media for publishing his pictures with Monson. “This is a handiwork of the Chief Minister’s Office to deliberately tarnish my reputation,” said Sudhakaran.
The fraudster has friendship with many senior police officers who allegedly torpedoed all investigations ordered against him by the top brass.
