How the law caught up with an artful dodger in Kerala
The Hindu
Monson Mavunkal, a fake antiquities dealer, spun a web of lies and mingled with the who’s who of Kerala to allegedly swindle people of crores of rupees. M.P. Praveen reports on the outrageous exploits of a man who claimed to possess the Staff of Moses, the throne of Tipu Sultan and a car used by Kareena Kapoor
It was around 10 p.m. on September 25. After celebrating their daughter’s engagement, the Mavunkal family got ready to retire for the evening at their house in Vallayil in Cherthala municipality of Alappuzha district. Suddenly, the police rushed in — some plain-clothed and others uniformed. They went over to the patriarch of the family, 52-year-old Monson Mavunkal, and handcuffed him. Bouncers in Monson’s house, dressed in body-hugging tights, jumped in to save their master. They flexed their biceps and puffed out their chests but retreated meekly when the men and women flashed their IDs. Some took to their heels, eyewitnesses say.
“I was about to shut my shop when I heard the commotion. I saw a few young men running. I stopped some of them — they had had lemonade at my shop earlier — and asked them what was happening. But they were too flustered to reply,” says Prashanth whose shop is about 50 metres from the Mavunkal household.
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