Fashion Gold scam: MC Kamaruddin MLA walks out of jail, alleges conspiracy behind arrest

Manjeshwaram MLA M C Kamaruddin, arrested in a multi-crore investment scam, was released from jail on Thursday, a day after he was granted bail in all the 148 cases slapped against him.

Walking out of the Kannur Central Prison, where he had been remanded for the past 96 days, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) legislator alleged a conspiracy behind his arrest.

“The conspiracy was hatched in Kanhangad. History will not pardon those who plotted my arrest,” Kamaruddin said. Asked whether he would contest the upcoming assembly polls in Kerala, the MLA said it was up to his party to take a call on that.

Kamaruddin was granted bail in six more cases on Wednesday. He was granted bail by the First Class Magistrate Court in Hosdurg in Kasaragod district of Kerala. He had requested the court to grant him bail considering his ill-health.

As many as 148 cases have been registered against the MLA in Kasaragod and Kannur districts on complaints from investors, mostly IUML workers. Out of this, he had secured bail in 142 cases earlier.

Kamaruddin was arrested on November 7 last year for allegedly cheating several people who invested in Fashion Gold, a jewellery chain established with public investment in 2006, run by him in Kasaragod district.

The special investigation team, which was constituted to probe the cases

registered against him, arrested the MLA at the SP office where he was being questioned.

The police had earlier registered a case against the Majeshwar MLA and T K Pookoiya Thangal of IUML, a major ally of the opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), under section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, suspecting a multi-crore fraud. The case, registered after over two dozen complaints were received in the Chendera and the Kasaragod police stations, were handed over to the State Crime Branch.