KOCHI: Hawala transaction of the antiquities-financial fraud case in which Monson Mavunkal is the accused has reached before the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The crime branch found that out of the Rs 10 crore handed over to Monson by the complainants, Rs 7.90 crore was hawala money. Crime Branch DySP YR Rustom said that the matter will be reported to the ED. The ED has sought the progress report of the investigation of the case from the crime branch.

The crime branch investigation revealed that the complainants paid Rs 10 crore to Monson. Out of this only 2.10 crore was transferred through bank account. The remaining amount was Hawala. YR Rustom revealed that the complainants had asked the ED not to tell about the hawala transaction. Evidence includes footage of one of the complainants, Shemir, meeting with Monson's son and a voice message from another complainant, Yakoob, regarding the money transaction. The crime branch has released the footage of the meeting. 5 lakhs had been offered by the complainants to the brother of the victim in the POCSO case, in which Monson is the accused. Rustom also said that the brother informed the court and the police about this.

The crime branch will soon file a supplementary chargesheet against IG Laxman and former DIG S Surendran in the case. The complainants had come forward against the exclusion of them from the first charge sheet.

Bribery allegation: Will approach High Court

DySP YR Rustom said he would approach the High Court against the bribery allegations levelled against him by the complainants. The complainants came forward with the allegations when the hawala transaction was scheduled to be reported to the ED. Rustom also said that he had not taken up the case during the period in which they said they paid the money. Yakoob and Shemir, who filed the complaint against Monson, approached Vigilance with a complaint that Rustom took Rs 1.25 lakh to speed up the investigation. Vigilance DySP Tommy Sebastian is in charge of the investigation.