Two-wheeler at half price scam: Accused used pictures with PM, Kerala CM among others to earn credibility

Thiruvananthapuram: A 26-year-old youth in Kerala who swindled crores of rupees from thousands of persons by offering two-wheelers and gadgets at half-price had used his pictures with prominent personalities, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi for wooing customers.

A retired high court judge was also among those who worked with the accused Ananthu Krishnan hailing from Idukki district. Ananthu also shared stages with many prominent persons in Kerala, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and used all those pictures to mislead people about his credibility.

Krishnan had posted a picture of meeting Modi and draping a shawl on him last year and also mentioned that the meeting with Modi was one of the biggest fortunes in his life. He was also accompanied by Sri Sathya Sai Orphanage Trust executive director K N Ananda Kumar, who is also an accused.

Krishnan was learnt to be involved in financial cheating cases, including a money-chain model cheating, earlier. Even then he managed to run a similar business and got associated with many prominent personalities.

Former high court judge justice C N Ramachandran Nair, who served as an advisor for the NGO formed by Krishnan, said that Ananda Kumar misled him about the NGO. Ananda Kumar said that he had ended his association with Krishnan once he became suspicious about the offers.

However, another accused in the case Congress leader Lali Vincent said that Ananda Kumar could not get rid of his involvement as he was instrumental in associating many prominent persons with Krishnan. Vincent already moved the court and got a temporary stay on her arrest.

BJP state leader A N Radhakrishnan, who headed a NGO involved in the scam, maintains that he got associated with it as many prominent persons were part of it.

Meanwhile, the enforcement directorate was learnt to have sought details from the police about the scam.

The police so far collected details of bank accounts of the NGOs and societies formed by Krishnan. His three vehicles were also seized. The police also collected details of properties he purchased in the last three years.

Krishnan, who was held the other day and remanded to judicial custody, was sent to police custody on Thursday. He told a section of the media that a fair investigation will bring out the truth.

Even as Krishnan was claiming that CSR funds from major companies would be used for providing two-wheelers and gadgets at half-price, police sources said that so far there was no evidence of the firm receiving any CSR funds, instead it operated on a money chain model.