Date:11/09/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/11/stories/2008091159940400.htm

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

No evidence linking Minister’s children with Sabarinath: CB

Staff Reporter

Thiruvananthapuram: The Crime Branch on Wednesday said that it had not stumbled across any evidence so far to suggest that any State Minister’s son (or daughter) had any monetary link with financial fraud suspect Sabarinath.

Investigators said a car accessory shop owner in the city had sold a Maruti Swift diesel car to Sabarinath a few years ago. The shop owner had in turn bought the car from a ruling front politician. They said they verified the vehicle records and found nothing suspicious in the transaction.

The investigating agency on Wednesday named six more persons as accused in the financial fraud case. They are Bindu Suresh, manager of Sabarinath’s INest and Total 4 U investment firms, his private secretary Pramod, his father Rajan, Dhanalakshmi Bank official Hemalatha and her daughter Lakshmi Mohan. Investigators said the suspects had siphoned off huge sums of depositor’s money from Sabarinath under one pretext or other. His staff members had manipulated records to fraudulently claim commission on deposits and also steal the money of investors. They said Sabarinath imported a Rs.38-lakh BMW car from Germany for Lakshmi Mohan who he intended to marry.

The agency will seek Sabarinath’s custody on Monday for further investigation. It will form special teams to arrest the suspects, including those accused of kidnapping Sabarinath and extorting gold, cash, diamonds and cars from him. Income Tax Department officials on Wednesday raided the house of a doctor in Kollam. She had invested hugely in Sabarinath’s firm and claimed to have reaped large dividends amounting to crores of rupees.