THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Sixty-six- year-old C Gopinath, a heart patient with other ailments, and his family are passing through the worst phase of their life. The ex-NRI was put behind bars for over 20 days, handcuffed and paraded on the street after being framed as a loan shark. Attempts were also made to issue an extradition order against him under the Goonda Act, his wife and relatives were waylaid by a gang in the city and a series of criminal cases were slapped on the family.
But for the timely intervention of senior police officers, the middleclass family’s situation would have worsened further. The mental and physical trauma being faced by them over the last several months throw light on the alleged misuse of Operation Kubera by the police at the behest of mafias. The involvement of some government employees in the racket is even suspected.
A probe is already on into the matter based on a petition by the family to police higher-ups. It is learnt that the police team probing the case has already found that many criminal cases initiated against the family were baseless.
It was his desire to stay with his family comprising wife Prasanna and lone son Abilash that prompted Gopinath to quit his Gulf job and start a financial institution in 2002 offering gold loans. With his earnings, Gopinath bought two pieces of land in 2008 in his son's name– 4.5 cents near Ayurveda College junction and about 1.30 acre at Njandoorkonan near Pothencode.
From 2009 onwards several legal notices and criminal cases were filed against Abilash with regard to the land at Njandoorkonam and even illegal construction attempts took place. Some of these cases had already been dismissed by the court. In the meantime, a lady from whom Gopinath bought the 4.5 cent land near Ayurveda College did not honour an assurance to make some alterations in the compound wall so as to enable smooth entry to the plot.
In subsequent years, the family later faced threats and pressure to return both the lands at prices much below the market value, but did not concede. On November 5, 2013, while the initial phase of Operation Kuberan was progressing, Abilash, who was a guest lecturer at leading MBA institutions, was held from his flat, that too during late hours. The charge was that Abilash along with his father and mother Prasanna assaulted one Jose of Thirumala demanding interest.
Another case was also registered against the family on charges of assaulting one Vijayan at Poojapura seeking higher interest. A police party raided their financial institution and claimed to have recovered some incriminating documents. However, the raids were carried out without any witness and the family alleges that the documents were fabricated. Gopinath was hospitalised for a heart surgery during those days. Abilash was kept at the Poojappura police station for over 48 hours and was released after the matter was brought to the notice of higher police officers.
The incident was a shock for the family as they spotted those involved with the Ayurveda College and Njandoorkonam lands, including one Jayakumar who is a government employee, near the police station and there were even threats and pressure on the family to give back both the pieces of land for a compensation much below the market value. The racket had created an impression that the lands were acquired by the family by force after lending money.
The ultimate harassment on the family began in May this year, coinciding with Operation Kubera. A police party raided their house at Palkulangara and the financial institution at West Fort on May 14 based on the complaint of a woman that the gold she pledged was not returned. Incidentally the racketeers were also present near the premises during the police action and they raised slogans tarnishing the family.
Gopinath, who was recovering from a heart operation last year, was even paraded through the street after being handcuffed for "evidence collection". He was later granted bail by a local court with the observation that the financial institution was conducting business with a licence.
In the meantime Prasanna was waylaid by a gang led by Jayakumar and Jose on May 24 near PMG junction here and was forcibly taken to the nearby Museum police station after allegedly framing her as a wanted person. A subsequent attempt was made to issue an extradition order against Gopinath under the Goonda Act framing him as an accused in many criminal cases.
City Police Commissioner H Venkatesh who smelt a rat in the whole turn of events kept the matter in abeyance and ordered a review of the entire developments by Operation Kuber nodal officer assistant commissioner K E Baiju. The family is now pinning their hopes that the truth would prevail once the ongoing probe is over.
