T’puram: The investigation into the alleged gold pawn fraud linked to two suicides is likely to be handed over to the district crime branch as the number of complaints against the prime accused continues to rise.Sources said the addition of abetment to suicide charges, along with financial fraud, has strengthened the case for transferring the probe from Vizhinjam police to crime branch. State special branch has also reached Vizhinjam and collected information about the case, indicating the seriousness of the investigation, sources added. Police traced transactions worth Rs 1.5 crore through one bank account of accused and found she maintained four accounts in a nationalized bank besides accounts in two others. Police will scrutinize all accounts, examine seized mobile phones, probe possible accomplices and extend the investigation to linked cooperative societies.Five fresh complaints were received from Kovalam, Malayinkeezhu, Thampanoor, Pettah and Balaramapuram, taking the total number of complaints to 17. Police are also receiving calls from several others claiming they were cheated in a similar manner.“The pattern emerging from the complaints suggests this could be more than an isolated fraud. We suspect there could be many more victims, and every complaint is being verified,” police said.Preliminary estimates indicate that around 150 sovereigns of gold may have been fraudulently obtained. Investigators have also received complaints alleging that property documents were taken from victims on the promise of arranging loans.“The scope of the investigation has widened considerably. We will seek the custody of the accused next week to collect further evidence, and more complainants are expected to come forward,” another source said.The case gained prominence after two employees of a private financial institution, Anju (28) and Aishwarya (32), died by suicide after reportedly suffering severe distress as the accused refused to return the gold that the deceased allegedly handed over. The prime accused, Sindhu Kumari (53), remains in judicial remand.
