Thamarassery police hand over money to beneficiary

Kozhikode: Thamarassery police intervened to transfer money collected for the treatment of a youngster from Wayanad, after the public suspected that a music troupe that raised the funds for the man was misusing it. SI Sayooj Kumar told this newspaper that nearly Rs 32,000 was seized from the troupe, which was the collection for two days, and it would be handed over to the victim. The police said that they were not registering a case here because the crime did not take place in their jurisdiction.

“The public brought to the notice of the police that they suspected the music troupe, being run by a man from Kaniyampatta in Wayanad, of misusing the details of a youngster, who is bedridden and undergoing treatment. When we checked with his family, we found that it was true and the only doubt was whether they were handing over the collected amount. We seized the collected amount and will hand it over to the victim’s family,” said the SI.

The team had collected funds from the public in the name of Shyamjith, son of Sasi and Santha, who broke his backbone after a fall from an arecanut tree. The singers’ gang allegedly took consent from Shyamjith’s mother around five months ago and gave the family only Rs 35,000 till date. The locals complained that the troupe collected Rs 20,000 on an average per day and cheated the family as well as the public. On Tuesday and Wednesday, they conducted public concerts in Thamarassery, after coming in a jeep, decorated on three sides with the photo of Shyamjith in his sick bed. They raise funds through a ‘bucket collection’ and the public also donated generously.