Crime Branch examines Monson’s residence

Crime Branch inspects Monson Mavunkal's 'museum' house in Kochi amid theft complaint, valuable metals missing, bribery allegations refuted.

The Crime Branch probing cheating cases against alleged conman Monson Mavunkal on Monday inspected his house at Kaloor, which he had claimed was a ‘museum’ stocked with priceless antiques.

The examination was held in the wake of a recent complaint lodged with the Ernakulam Town North police that a theft had taken place in the house. The house, which initially had police security immediately after Monson’s arrest, was locked, and the key was with the North police.

Sources associated with the investigation said there was hardly any sign of a break-in and aired suspicion that someone having access to a duplicate key could have done it. The matter will be further investigated by the North police.

Prima facie, 15 items, mostly valuable metals like copper, were found missing. The stolen items were not the alleged fake antiques but valuable materials. According to the police, of the 1,800 to 2,000 items stocked at the house, around 900 belonged to one Santhosh.

Investigating officer Y.R. Rustom shot down allegations that he had taken bribe from the complainant. He said the claim was that they had given the money even before he started probing the case when there was no way to predict that he would be put in charge of the investigation.

The complainant against Monson claimed to have given him ₹10 crore, which was found in the subsequent investigation. According to investigation sources, only ₹2.10 crore was found to have been transferred through bank, while the rest was allegedly given as hawala, which is under the consideration of the Enforcement Directorate.