Massive theft at conman Monson Mavunkal's house; 15 items including 'Panchaloha sculpture' lost

KOCHI: The crime branch has confirmed that 15 objects, including sculptures of ‘Panchaloham’ were robbed from the ‘Antique salon’ house in Kaloor where conman Monson Mavunkal lived on rent. The inspection took place after Monson's son approached the North Police complaining about a robbery in the house. The police also had to inspect since the High Court had directed the officials to file a report after sculptor Santhosh approached the court with a petition demanding the transfer of sculptures.

DySP YR Rustom-led team conducted an hour-long inspection and confirmed that 15 items were missing. In the complaint, it was said that some miscreants broke the gate of the house on March 8th and entered the building to steal the antiques. The family came to know about this after the neighbours alerted them about rampant trespassing.

Earlier in the police inspection, the chances of robbery were written off. It was during the crime branch inspection on Monday that the robbery was confirmed. Around 2,000 items including a lookalike of Tipu Sultan's throne are stored in the Kaloor house. Among these, 900 sculptures belong to sculptor Santhosh.

Since Monson’s arrest, the house was locked the and key was kept safe in North Police station. The door of the house was not broken. The thief may have entered the house using a false key, informed the police. Although initially the house was guarded by the police, it is understood that the security was withdrawn lately since the officers thought it would be a waste of manpower to guard a house that amassed a lot of forged items.