Jumana's offhand complaint that closed all doors for Ananthu Krishnan

KOCHI: Ananthu Krishnan, the main accused in the half-price scam, was arrested mostly due to the shrewd move made to perfection by Muvattupuzha police. Another crucial moment was the complaint that reached the chief minister from Muvattupuzha native Jumana Nassar, unfurling one of the biggest frauds Kerala has ever seen.

Interestingly, Jumana had not lost her money in the fraud nor had any links with Ananthu Krishnan. Her demand was to investigate the transparency of the half-price scheme as a matter of public interest. During the investigation, the Muvattupuzha police froze the current HDFC account of Ananthu Krishnan's company ‘Professional Services Innovation’ in Ernakulam which had three crores in savings.

Later, Ananthu Krishnan was arrested on the complaint of Prameela Girish Kumar, councillor of Muvattupuzha Municipal Corporation. After this, more complaints started flowing in.

“At least 10 crores would come into my account every two months. After getting a premonition of an arrest, I gave a token advance to buy two plots. I knew the arrest was imminent. But it would not have been this early if not for Jumana’s complaint” – an indifferent Ananthu Krishnan told Muvattupuzha Inspector Basil Thomas while being interrogated by the police in custody.