Crackdown on chit firms, recruitment agencies in Thiruvananthapuram

Money, documents seized in 'Operation White Collar'

The city police on Thursday raided 40 private institutions, chiefly chit fund companies and manpower recruitment agencies, and said most did not have the licence to operate.

The inspections, code-named Operation White Collar, were conducted almost simultaneously and resulted in the seizure of unaccounted money, blank cheques, title-deeds, revenue documents, promissory notes, passports, and driving licences collected from the public without any authorisation and as surety for loans and foreign employment visas.

A press release issued by City Police Commissioner P. Vijayan, who headed the special drive, said the police booked the owner of Zion Travels near Bakery Junction on the charge of recruiting citizens for foreign jobs without the authorisation of the Protector of Emigrants. They seized several passports from the accused, Jayarajan.

He was arrested and produced before the court on the charge of violating the passport Act and remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.

The police arrested one ‘Killipalam’ Subramanian on the charge of extending high-interest loans to his clients after accepting gold ornaments from them as surety.

He had no authorisation to conduct such a business, the police said. He was arrested on the charge of violating the Kerala Money Lenders Act.

The police said the biggest haul of money and documents was from Metro Finance and Chits, an institution which functioned without any government authorisation. They said the documents were collected mainly from patients who arrived for diagnosis at the scan centre functioning in the same building.

The police said that they inspected one Greenway Associates, a recruitment agency near Vazhuthacaud, and found that its management had collected nearly Rs.5 crore from the public in return for foreign jobs without government sanction.

The police also raided Poorna Shree Chits and Investments at Thampanoor and booked the owner on the charge of violating the Kerala Money Lenders Act. The Commissioner said the drive would be intensified.