‘Kuberan’ casts net for jail warder

Rs.1 lakh, title deeds, passbooks, sword seized from his house

The city version of ‘Operation Kuberan’, the police drive against loan sharks and illegal moneylending, on Monday, revealed the involvement of a head jail warder as well, apart from 12 more cases being registered, and one person being arrested in the city.

According to City Police Commissioner H. Venkatesh, raids were conducted at several places on Monday, with a tip-off leading to a raid by the Medical College police on the residence of Jayachandran, the head warder of the Alappuzha District Jail, which exposed his involvement in the illegal business.

Jayachandran, the police said, had been active in the ‘blade’ business, notorious as ‘Bullet Jayan’, with the raid on his residence in Karunya Nagar, Ulloor, leading to the seizure of Rs.1 lakh in cash, 16 documents including promissory notes and title deeds, 11 RC books of various vehicles, five bank passbooks and one sword as well.

Many complaints

The officer, the police said, did not have a clean track record earlier. There were many complaints against him. Interestingly, the Medical College police themselves had registered a case against him just a week ago, charging him with drunk driving.

However, the police have not been able to nab him yet, with enquiries revealing that he had been absent from duty since April 30.

The passbooks have indicated he had deposits running into over Rs.20 lakh in different bank accounts, with the police now initiating proceedings to freeze these accounts.

The Cantonment police said Ashok Kumar of Rajaji Nagar was booked under the Kerala Money-Lenders Act and arrested based on details of illegal moneylending found in his diary. He will be produced in court on Tuesday.

Mr. Venkatesh said the raids would continue, with the crackdown on loan sharks to be only intensified in the coming days.

About 20 cases were registered and 10 persons arrested, apart from nearly Rs.3.5 lakh being seized, during similar raids on Sunday. The crackdown was prompted by the alleged suicide of five members of one family, reportedly due to pressure from loan sharks, near Mannanthala on Saturday.