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Kochi, Dec 23 (IANS) The Kerala High Court on Thursday observed that there was no reason to suspect any foul play in the ongoing investigation against the infamous fake antique dealer Monson Mavunkal's case.
Justice Devan Ramachandran made this remark while hearing the various agencies probing the case.
The counsel for the state pointed out to the court that a dozen cases have been registered against Mavunkal and the probe team was doing its job in all its earnestness.
In between, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) informed the court that the Crime Branch has not responded to its demand asking for documents related to the case, to which the State's counsel replied that the probe agency has and will respond to all things that have been asked for and will be mentioned in the report also.
It was after hearing all the parties, the court opined that the probe in the case is going according to the way it should be going.
Mavunkal, by now has become a household name on account of his fake antique collections and with every passing day after his arrest by the Crime Branch from his home-cum-museum in the last week of September after victims approached Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, complaining that they were swindled of Rs 10 crore by this "master fraud" who managed to even take the top Kerala Police officials for a ride.
Mavunkal sought to impress his high-profile guests by showcasing antiques in his collection which he claimed included the "staff of Moses" and "two of the 30 silver coins that were taken by Judas to cheat Jesus Christ".
Police said that he had showcased these "rare" items -- a throne said to be used by Tipu Sultan, as well as a huge collection of old Qurans, Bibles (Old Testament and New Testament), and old handwritten copies of Bhagavad Gita.
Mavunkal used to bring several VIPs to his palatial residence, a part of which was converted into museum to house his 'precious' antiques.
--IANS
sg/skp/
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