THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Prasanth Nair IAS came forward with an explanation on the picture of him sitting with Monson Mavunkal, a fraudster of antiques. In a Facebook post, he said that one of his family friends took him and his family to the private museum of Monson four and a half years ago to surprise his children. He said then itself he understood that it was a fraud and while returning his nine-year-old daughter called the antiquities in the museum as fake. There is nothing to highlight in Monson’s collection other than handicrafts.

The photo of Prasanth sitting on the royal chair claiming to be Tipu's throne from Monson's collection had gone viral.

Meantime, it has been found that Monson made fake antiquities in Kochi. The throne of Tipu Sultan was built at Kundannur.