On orders from District Collector A. Kowsigan, an alleged kingpin of the blade mafia in Kollam, Rajesh Raveendran alias Rajesh Khanna (50), was arrested and detained under the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act (KAAPA) on Monday.
The Collector gave the detention orders following a report submitted by City Police Commissioner V. Suresh Kumar. He was arrested by a police team headed by Kollam West Circle Inspector Mohandas from his residence at Navaikulam. The police said that Rajesh was involved in several cheating cases. For several years, he had been allegedly lending money at exorbitant interest rates and looted the land and property of people who failed to pay the interest.
He had a gang of musclemen to threaten his victims and force them part with their property, the police said. Twelve criminal cases in this connection were pending against him at various police stations in the district.
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Following Operation Kubera, the crackdown on the blade mafia, Rajesh was arrested, but he obtained bail from the Kerala High Court. But he had violated the bail norms by threatening a person who had lodged a complaint against him, the police said. The Kollam east police had submitted a report to the City Police Commissioner stating that Rajesh posed a threat to the life and property of people. After his arrest, he was taken to the Central Jail, Thiruvananthapuram.