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SIT to record statement of Italy-based woman from Kerala in Monson Mavunkal case
A senior SIT officer said Pulliyail’s statement was crucial in the ongoing investigation and she has been asked come to Kochi to record it.
The special investigation team (SIT) probing the deals of arrested Kochi-based antique collector Monson Mavunkal on Thursday decided to record the statement of Italy-based Malayali woman Anitha Pullayil who reportedly introduced many senior police officers to the alleged conman. Later, he used his connection with the officers to cheat and intimidate gullible antique buyers.
A senior SIT officer said her statement was crucial in the ongoing investigation and she has been asked come to Kochi to record it. After a series of cheating cases surfaced against Mavunkal; she appeared in a couple of Malayalam news channels saying that she advised many people allegedly conned by him to approach the police. Pullayil also said she was not aware of the shady deals of Mavunkal and stayed away from him after she got an inkling regarding some of them.
“We feel her statement is important for further investigation. So we issued a notice to her,” said a senior officer of the SIT who did not want to be named.
Officers expect questioning Pullayil will help unravel more about his shady deals. Mavunkal was arrested on September 26 after five businessmen approached chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s office complaining that they were cheated by him of ₹10 crore by promising shares in the upcoming international antique museums in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram.
Later, several other businessmen filed cheating complaints against him and a rape survivor also alleged that he had threatened her to withdraw the complaint against her tormentor. She said Mavunkal threatened to release her “inappropriate pictures and video” if she failed to withdraw the case. After several complaints cropped up, the government constituted a special investigation team under Additional Director General of Police S Sreejith.
After his arrest, shocking details of cover up and laxity came to light. Many police officers were regular at his house and museum and there was even a police beat box outside his house where the patrol party would have to sign frequently. He also ran a cosmetology clinic in Kochi. However, his degree was found to be fake. After his photos with state Congress president K Sudhakaran surfaced, the leader said that he knew him personally and sought treatment from him but was not aware of his shady deals.
The order of former police chief Loknath Behra giving directions to open a police booth outside his house was also leaked later. In the order, he mentioned that Mavunkal’s house- cum- museum holds many priceless antiques and it was worth giving police security. In one of the photos, Behra was seen sitting on a throne which Mavunkal said he obtained from descendents of Mysore king Tipu Sultan.
All complaints against Mavunkal including intelligence reports were hushed up with the help of officers close to him. One inspector general of police, a DIG, two SPs and two station house officers are under scanner now.
A motivational speaker, doctor, cosmetologist, art promoter, peacenik and human rights activist Mavunkal, only a matriculate, had donned many roles for more than five years and hoodwinked many. In 2019 the state intelligence had stated that Mavunkal was a fraudster and a high-level probed needed against him but thanks to his high connections nothing happened.
In his YouTube videos he claimed that he owns many antique pieces like Mysore 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. There are also reports that many cine personalities frequented him quite often. Later police found that most of these antique were made in Kerala and Tamil Nadu by local craftsmen.
