Kochi, Sep 28 (PTI) A court here on Tuesday granted Crime Branch the custody of Monson Mavunkal, the accused in the Rs ten crore swindling case, even as leaders of the BJP and the Congress expressed doubts over the efficacy of the state government agency to bring out the extent of fraud committed by the controversial antique dealer.

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A local court here refused to grant bail to Mavunkal but granted three-day custody to the Crime Branch which has been probing the case.

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As reports about Mavunkal's alleged high profile connections with IPS officers, top bureaucrats and politicians emerged, former UDF convener and Lok Sabha MP Benny Behanan today alleged that the antique dealer was part of an international smuggling racket and said he has no faith in the Crime Branch wing of the Kerala police.

Talking to reporters, Behanan said in order to bring out the extent of the forgery committed by Mavunkal, a serious probe must be initiated.

"The accused used to invite senior police officials, politicians, actors and others to his residence and created an image that he had high-level contacts and engaged in fraudulent activities. A comprehensive probe must be conducted to understand the extent of forgery he has committed," Behanan said.

"Many probe agencies have earlier stated that the money from smuggling was being used for terrorism related activities and a Crime Branch probe cannot bring out all the details," the Congress leader said, indirectly seeking investigation by central agencies such as Customs and NIA, which are authorised to probe matters related to smuggling and terrorism.

His statement seeking a detailed investigation into the case also came a day after KPCC Chief K Sudhkaran's purported photos with Mavunkal surfaced on mainstream media.

State BJP chief K Surendran also sought a comprehensive probe by any other agency other than the Crime Branch wing of the Kerala police as "many police officials and bureaucrats were involved" in the crime.

Surendran alleged the fraud was committed with the knowledge of senior officials of Kerala police.

"Many senior officials of Kerala police and bureaucrats are involved in the fraud. Kerala police probe is not going to reach anywhere. The probe will end like many other major cases in Kerala. We want a comprehensive probe by any other trustable agency. The chief minister should explain the details of the case to the public," Surendran said.

A day after some complainants, who lost their money in the cheating case, alleged that they had handed over money to Mavunkal in the presence of KPCC chief Sudhakaran, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly V D Satheesan today came out in support of his party leader, saying that photographs of the accused in a case with the political leaders should not be used for politically targeting them.

He said the people generally click pictures of them with political leaders and that does not mean that the politicians are aware of their background.

Dismissing the allegations against Sudhakaran, Satheesan said political leaders cannot ask the public not to click pictures with them.

"We meet hundreds of people everyday. Just because someone clicked a picture with us, doesn't mean that we are friends. We are political leaders and when we go somewhere people come to us to click pictures with them. How can we know their background? We are not movie stars who move around with security guards keeping away the people from crowding around them," Satheesan said.

Cherthala native Mavunkal, who claims to be in possession of rare and historic antiques, was arrested by the district Crime Branch which has been probing complaints against the dealer of having swindled Rs 10 crore from several people.

Sudhakaran has dismissed all allegations against him. PTI RRT

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