Crime Branch officers to hold talks with Tamil Nadu cops

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Crime Branch will hold a meeting with top police officials of Tamil Nadu police in Chennai on Tuesday to discuss the developments in the probe related to the Nirmal Krishna chit fund fraud case.

IGP (crimes) S Sreejith and SP B K Prasanth are expected to attend the meeting. At present, the state police are only giving assistance to the Tamil Nadu police to trace key accused Nirmalan Krishnan Nair. Sources said the Crime Branch officials of both the states have intensified the probe to trace Nirmalan as there were reports that he is hiding in Kerala. Earlier, state police chief Loknath Behera had written to Tamil Nadu DGP urging him to complete the probe as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, tension prevailed in Palukal and Marthandam in Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu after the 100-odd investors who were allegedly duped by Nirmal Krishna chit fund company, tried to man-handle the three board of directors of the firm when they were brought to their residence for evidence collection on Monday. The three directors, Raveendran, Sekharan Nair and Ajith were arrested by Tamil Nadu economic offenses wing from Madurai on Sunday while they were trying to approach a court. With this arrest, the total number of arrests has gone up to five. However,  13 more persons, including the key accused are still at large.

The investors tried to stop the police vehicle carrying the accused and started verbally abusing them. However, the situation was brought under control with the arrival of more police personnel. The accused were brought to their residence to collect the pass books of some investors. Later, they were produced before the magistrate.  

Earlier, the Museum police had registered a fresh FIR against the promoters of the firm, including the key accused Nirmalan Krishnan Nair, based on a complaint filed by a woman of Kanyakumari district. As per the complaint filed by Sudha, she had given a sum of Rs 26 lakh to Nirmalan at his residence at Jagathy after the latter promised higher returns in terms of interest. The investigation into the complaint is also progressing simultaneously.

Nirmal Krishna chit fund company, a finance firm which functioned in Palukal in Tamil Nadu and close to the Kerala border had allegedly duped over 13,600 investors from Kerala and Tamil Nadu who had deposited over Rs 500 crore under various investment schemes on the promise of good returns. Among them were several people hailing from Parassala, Vellarada and Kunnathukal areas bordering Tamil Nadu. The cheating came to light after the office failed to reopen after the Onam break.

The firm had registered the mortgaged properties in the names of the arrested persons. The police said around 16 people, including the key accused, went absconding. The firm had collected deposits to the tune of several crores from various persons, including businessmen and politicians, in Kanyakumari and Thiruvananthapuram districts. The company is said to have a strong presence in areas like the Chalai market here. It used to offer returns at the rate of Rs 1,400 per month for a deposit of Rs 1 lakh. Nirmal Krishna Nidhi Ltd also used to prompt investors to convert the monthly payment from the deposit as chit payment so that the amount could be retained by the firm.