Kerala: Pics of VIPs with fraud accused come out

As the police arrested a man accused of cheating over Rs 100 crore from many investors in Kerala, pictures of the accused with many ministers, senior politicians and celebrities have come out.

K P Praveen alias Praveen Rana, who was absconding, was held by a police team from a hideout at a quarry at Pollachi in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday night.

Rana, who ran Thrissur-based Safe and Strong Business Consultants, allegedly collected investments of over Rs 100 crore from scores of persons offering attractive returns of up to 50 per cent annually.

Following Rana's arrest many pictures of Rana with many ministers in Kerala, senior Congress leaders, including a former Chief Minister, at various functions have emerged. Rana was also featured by many media organisations earlier.

Rana, who was brought to Kerala by Thursday morning, was learnt to have confessed to the police that the investments collected were spent for a lavish lifestyle. He said he had to pledge his wedding ring to raise funds while going into the hideout.

But the investors who were cheated suspect that he made benami investments.

Rana told reporters while he was being taken to court that his business was in the growing stage.

Rana had been claiming that he had investments in many business ventures in various cities in India, including bars and pubs. He also acted, produced and directed a couple of Malayalam films.