The Crime Branch team probing the agriculture loan fraud case in Kuttanad said on Saturday that Kuttanad Vikasana Samithi (KVS) executive director Fr. Thomas Peelianickal, an accused in the case, had gone absconding.
Last week, the investigators had seized the vehicle of Fr. Peelianickal.
“His arrest is imminent and we think he has gone underground fearing arrest,” said an officer.
Last month, the District and Sessions Court, Alappuzha, rejected an anticipatory bail application filed by Fr. Peelianickal and others in the case.
Earlier, the police registered nine cases, including Fr. Peelianickal, Veliyanad block panchayat member Rojo Joseph, Joint Liability Group president K.T. Devassya and KVS office-bearer Thresyamma as accused. They were booked on charges of cheating and forging documents.
Complaint filed
Fr. Peelianickal was booked on the basis of a complaint filed by a group of six persons hailing from Mithrakary alleging that the KVS had helped them obtain ₹5.40-lakh agriculture loan from a bank and they had given ₹30,000 each to the KVS on the promise that it would be given back at the time of loan repayment.
The complainants alleged that the KVS office-bearers had threatened them when they demanded the money back.
