Salem/Kochi: The Tamil Nadu police investigating the mysterious death of two Keralites in Dharmapuri there suspect the role of an iridium racket behind the incident. The Tamil Nadu police have already taken into custody a person belonging to Mettur in Salem in connection with the case.
“We have extended our probe to Kerala and have taken the statements of the family members of the man from Ernakulam who was found dead based on the information given by the Mettur native,” said Kalaiselvan, District Police Chief of Dharmapuri.
Valiyaveettil Sivakumar (50) of Varapuzha in Ernakulam, and Nevil G Cruz of Shine Villa at Kunnukuzhy in Thiruvananthapuram were found dead with grave injuries on the roadside in the Periyali forest area of Dharmapuri on July 19.
Complaint to CM
Incidentally, Sivakumar had submitted a complaint to the Kerala Chief Minister one month ago which said that some people had threatened him. According to the complaint, two persons – reportedly Kerala Police personnel hailing from Thiruvananthapuram district – had issued threats at a hotel in Salem.
Sivakumar alleged in the complaint that the two persons told him that he would be killed at his house in Varapuzha if he did not return an amount of Rs 1 crore owed to a man from Thiruvananthapuram. The two persons had also taken away his passport, said Sivakumar.
After the complaint was received by the Kerala Chief Minister, officers from the Varapuzha police station had visited Sivakumar’s house to take statements.
Meanwhile, the police learnt that Sivakumar had collected lakhs from various people promising to earn them huge profits by exporting antiques to Malaysia and some other countries.
Iridium link
At the same time, police officers in Dharmapuri believe that Sivakumar and Nevil were abducted and killed by a gang dealing with iridium. This is based on the data recovered by the Tamil Nadu police from the mobile phones found in the car used by the two men, which was found parked near their bodies.
The police have also obtained CCTV visuals of Sivakumar and Nevil leaving a lodge near the new bus stand in Salem three hours before their death.
Investigators said that a major racket which cheated people by offering them iridium was active in Kerala. To unravel more information on this aspect, Tamil Nadu police officers have launched an investigation in Thrissur and Kochi.
Iridium fraudsters promise gullible people with prosperity if the metal is kept at home. Huge amounts are collected from such people for supplying the metal. The fraudsters also claim that iridium is a radioactive metal which is sold to atomic power stations through government channels.
