A major accused in the Kowdiar land scam case, involving property worth ₹1.5 crore, has been arrested. Ananthapuri Manikandan, a Congress District Committee member who had been absconding, was taken into custody in Bengaluru.
He is a close associate of senior Congress leader and former Health Minister V.S. Sivakumar. The land belonging to a woman named Dora, an expatriate, was fraudulently taken over using a woman named Vasantha from Mukkola who resembled Dora. Merin Jacob and Vasantha, both accused, carried out the scam. Manikandan is said to have provided all the forged documents used in the fraud.
The arrest was made based on information gathered during interrogation of the other accused. Despite his close ties to prominent Congress leaders like Ramesh Chennithala, K. Muraleedharan, and V.D. Satheesan, the party leadership remains silent on the matter.
Manikandan is expected to be brought to Thiruvananthapuram by evening and presented in court tomorrow after further interrogation.
