Ernakulam Court dismisses bail plea of YouTuber Monson Mavunkal

Ernakulam Court on Tuesday dismissed the bail plea of YouTuber Monson Mavunkal accused of allegedly swindling money from people by selling fake artefacts and other documents.

Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate Court on Monday sent Monson Mavunkal, a YouTuber and patron of expatriates' association, to judicial custody for three days in the case of allegedly swindling around four crores of rupees from several persons by claiming possession of centuries-old antiques and providing fake documents.

The Crime Branch team of Kochi police had arrested Mavunkal on Sunday at Cherthala in Alappuzha District.

According to the investigation team's report filed in the Court, "the fraud was operated by forging a document in the name of a foreign bank. There was no account abroad in his name. He deceived the complainants by convincing them that Rs 2,62,000 crores were credited to his bank account by selling antiquities and he needs Rs 10 crores to withdraw it."

He assured them that if they give money, he will give interest-free loans to them for starting a business.

The accused claimed that his precious antique collection includes the throne of Tipu Sultan. The first edition of the Holy Bible, the books used by Maratha King Chhatrapati Shivaji, the last powerful Mughal emperor Aurangazeb and Mysore Sultan Tipu Sultan, several holy books and documents such as a version of the great epic Mahabharata written in palm leaves, and the paintings of Raja Ravi Varma and Pablo Picasso are some of the items claimed to be in his possession.

He had allegedly sold the antiquities claiming that it was not the original but a copy of it. Investigations by the police revealed that these were made by a carpenter based in Cherthala at Alappuzha district.

Mavunkal is a patron of the Pravasi Malayali Federation and chairman of the Kosmos Group and the Kalinga Kalyan Foundation. He was running an archaeological centre in Kochi.

In the meanwhile, the photos of the accused with Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K Sudhakaran, Congress leader Laly Vincent and former Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson are circulating on social media. Mavunkal's photos with higher officials including those with former DGP and present MD of Kochi metro Loknath Behera and ADGP Manoj Abraham have also come out.

( With inputs from ANI )

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