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Arrested YouTuber’s ‘links’ with political bigwigs in Kerala under scanner
Sudhakaran, in his response on Monday, said that he knew Monson Mavunkal and visited him for skin treatment but was unware of his unlawful activities.
After self-proclaimed antique collector and YouTuber Monson Mavunkal was arrested in Kochi on Sunday for allegedly swindling money, many photos and videos have started appearing in social media showing how he flaunted his high connections to cheat people. He is currently in judicial custody.
Senior politicians like state Congress president K Sudhakaran and deputy inspector general of police S Surendran figure in some of the photos and videos. Hindustan Times could not verify the authenticity of these photos and videos. Sudhakaran, in his response on Monday, said that he knew him and visiting him for skin treatment but was unware of his unlawful activities. “I approached him in connection with skin treatment. I was recommended by one of my old friends in Kochi. I was not aware of his past or his degree,” he said in Kannur (north Kerala). He said many VIPs used to visit him and that his name has been singled out and is deliberately being dragged to defame him. Sudhakaran, who is a betnoire of the CM Pinarayi Vijayan, blamed the CM’s office for this.
Like Sudhakaran, DIG S Surendran also said he was unaware of his unlawful activities.
Mavunkal runs a big museum in the port city and many VIPs were frequent visitors here. Police said he promised partnership for gullible investors in an upcoming archaeological museum in Kochi and collected money from many businessmen. There are also complaints that he gifted antiques to many VIPs and that he collected money from them later saying his payments were delayed due to some technical glitches abroad. Police, however, later found that he did not have any foreign bank account and his doctorate and medical degrees were also fictitious.
There were many attempts to hush up cases against him and around six victims later approached the CM who later directed a special team to investigate complaints against him which later led to his arrest. He was reportedly close to many senior police officers as well.
“We have been complaining about him for quite some time. But he used his influence with the police to hush them up. Many VIPs were frequent visitors there. He claimed he’s a cosmetologist from Germany. Many people were cheated but fearing backlash and bad publicity they didn’t lodge a complaint,” said one of the complainants K T Shameer who said he was duped of ₹3 crore, by offering a share in the fictitious museum.
In his YouTube videos Mavunkal claimed that he possess many antique pieces like Mysuru emperor Tipu Sultan’s throne, silver coins Judas received for betraying Jesus Christ, Soloman- era gold coins and rare books on Maratha warrior Shivaji and Mughal emperor Aurangazeb. He also claimed that he is a German-trained cosmetologist and treated many VIPs.
Police said that during interrogation, he claimed that the antique gifts he gave were replicas and not the original ones.
A senior police officer, who did not want to be identified, said he was a master conman and owned a fleet of luxury cars. “There are around 30 cars in his yard. We have information that he even brought used and abandoned high-end cars to show off. It seems most of the VIPs were not aware of his shady past,” he said, adding he also used private security guards and surrounded by many secretaries. He said graft cases worth ₹20 crore have surfaced so far and more complaints are likely to be filed. He also heads a number of self-made organisations and NGOs. There are unconfirmed reports that some central agencies also sought details about him.
