Thiruvananthapuram: A police officer attached to the Mannanthala police station and a Canara Bank appraiser were held for allegedly cheating the bank’s Nalanchira branch of Rs 52.89 lakh by pledging fake gold ornaments. The accused are Akhil Raj R V, 39, a policeman and a native of Vattappara; his wife Anagha S; and Vijayakumar I J, an appraiser at the bank. Akhil’s mother was also allegedly involved in the fraud, police said.According to the police, Akhil and his family conspired with Vijayakumar to pledge spurious gold chains at the bank, with the appraiser allegedly certifying the ornaments as genuine. The fraud involved three transactions in July.On July 23, three chains weighing 198.98g were pledged to obtain Rs 18 lakh. On July 27, another three chains weighing 248.27g were pledged for Rs 20 lakh. In a third transaction, two chains weighing 158.06g were pledged to secure Rs 14.89 lakh. The eight chains weighed a total of 605.31g and were valued at Rs 52.89 lakh.Police suspect that Akhil used the money obtained through the alleged fraud to play rummy. He had reportedly been using his savings for the game but allegedly turned to fraud when his funds ran short. His wife and mother allegedly joined him in planning and executing the scheme.The fraud came to light during an internal inspection by the bank. Branch manager Anoop Jafar lodged a complaint with Mannanthala police, who registered a case on Oct 6 under relevant provisions of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to criminal breach of trust, cheating and conspiracy.Police are investigating the alleged roles of the other family members and the appraiser in the transactions.
