KOCHI: KPCC president K Sudhakaran will not be appearing before the ED tomorrow in the Monson Mavungal antiques fraud case. The ED issued notices to Sudhakaran and two police officers to appear for questioning in the case. He has requested the investigating agency for more time and informed the ED that he will be present on Tuesday.
The notice states that Sudhakaran should appear on the 18th while IG Guguloth Laxman and former DIG Surendran who previously served as the Kochi City Commissioner are scheduled to appear at the ED office in Kochi on August 16. However, DIG Surendran appeared before the ED for questioning today after seeking additional time to submit the required documents for the case. IG G Laxman also did not attend the questioning on the day directed by the ED. In the same case, the crime branch had also levelled serious allegations against IG Laxman. The investigation team had filed a petition in the court to revoke the anticipatory bail of the senior police officer.
The ED's intervention comes after the crime branch's investigation into the frauds committed by Monson. The ED will be examining whether illicit money and money orders were utilized in transactions worth crores. The Crime Branch has included K Sudhakaran as one of the accused. The ED sources stated that they will be interrogating Sudhakaran and the police officers and they will also be questioning others involved in the case and those who lodged complaints against Monson.