"Will exempt from surveillance of Enforcement Directorate": Rajasthan and Ernakulam natives arrested by Vigilance 

KOCHI: The Vigilance has arrested two people who tried to extort two crore rupees from a cashew exporter from Kollam on the pretext of exempting him from the surveillance of the Enforcement Directorate (ED). This was done on the pretext of having connections with ED officials. Wilson, a native of Thammanam, Ernakulam, and Mukesh Jain, a native of Rajasthan, were arrested.

Wilson was caught in Panampilly Nagar while receiving two lakh rupees from the Kollam native. Mukesh was subsequently arrested. The Kollam native is an accused in a financial fraud case registered by the Kollam police. The case is related to the export of cashew nuts to Africa during the Covid outbreak. The ED conducted a preliminary investigation into this and questioned the complainant once. However, no case was taken up.

The complainant was worried that the ED would take over the case. Realising this, the accused approached him with the promise of exempting him from ED surveillance. The suspicious complainant handed over the information to the Vigilance. The accused had asked for two crores. As per the Vigilance's instructions, the complainant transferred Rs 50,000 to a bank account outside Kerala that they had given. They did not withdraw the money. Instead, they demanded that two lakh rupees be paid in cash. The arrest was made when the accused came to receive it.

The Vigilance has concluded that Mukesh Jain, who has been living in Ernakulam for 14 years, has extensive hawala connections. Vigilance sources said that a few more people are involved in the fraud, and they will be arrested in the coming days. The accused were produced in court and remanded.