IUML legislator arrested in Kerala gold jewellery scam

Kasaragod: In a blow to the opposition Congress-led UDF in Kerala ahead of Local body polls next month, an IUML legislator M C Kamaruddin was arrested on Saturday in connection with cases registered against him in a multi-crore financial fraud relating to gold jewellery business.

The Manjeshwaram MLA was called in for questioning by the Special Investigation Team this morning and his arrest was recorded by evening, police said.

The arrest was under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, provisions of Kerala Protection of Interests of Depositors in Financial Establishments Act and section 3 and 5 of the banning of unregulated deposit schemes act.


"He has been arrested under three cases and currently, the probe team is investigating 77 cases against him," a senior police official told .

However, police said as many as 115 cases have been registered against the MLA in Kasaragod and Kannur districts on complaints from investors, mostly workers of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), a major ally of the United Democratic Front (UDF).

While UDF convener M M Hassan said the arrest was politically motivated, Kerala PCC president Mullapally Ramachandran said "let the law take its course."

Kamaruddin, who is the chairman of Fashion Gold Jewellery, also maintained that his arrest was "politically motivated."

"This is a politically motivated case. My case is coming up in the High Court on Monday. No notice was issued to me before the arrest. The government is trying to hide its faults by arresting me.

They cannot destroy me by any of this," Kamaruddin told reporters as he was being taken to a hospital for COVID-19 test soon after his arrest.

Another district leader of IUML, T K Pookoya Thangal, who is also the Managing Director of Fashion Gold, around which the fraud has taken place, was also called to the SP office in Kasaragod,police said

The IUML leadership had given the MLA six months time to repay the amounts taken from the investors.

Following the arrest, the IUML has called for an urgent meeting at Kozhikode on Sunday.