Kerala appointment bribery case: Prime accused Akhil Sajeev nabbed from Theni

The accused in the appointment bribery case linked to Kerala Health Minister's office, Akhil Sajeev was nabbed from Theni in Tamil Nadu. The Pathanamthitta police nabbed him in connection with the fraud cases registered against him in 2021.

Pathanamthitta: The prime accused in the controversial appointment fraud case Akhil Sajeev, was nabbed from Theni in Tamil Nadu on Friday (Oct 6) morning. He was nabbed by a police team from Pathanamthitta led by DySp Nandakumar.  He was brought to Pathanamthitta station in connection with the fraud cases registered in 2021. Meanwhile, Pathanamthitta Cantonment Police is investigating the recruitment bribery case. 

Thiruvananthapuram Cantonment Police will take Akhil Sajeev into custody after he is produced in court in the Pathanamthitta case.  

The former CITU leader of Pathanamthitta and his lawyer friend Lenin Raj were arrested on allegations of "fraud" and "impersonation." Initial investigations showed that Lenin had defrauded complainant Haridasan Kummoli of Rs 50,000 while Akhil had defrauded him of Rs 25,000. A previous communication between the complainant and Akhil Sajeev was leaked, in which the latter is heard offering an appointment for his daughter-in-law Dr. Nitha Raj at Ayush Kendra within a week.

Earlier this week, the Cantonment police took Raheez, a naive of Kozhikode and a friend of the accused Akhil Sajeev into custody.

Raheez was allegedly involved in creating fake emails and letters under the names of the minister's personal assistant and Arogya Kerala. The fake email id was created by Akhil Sajeev along with Raheez. The former also ran an interior design business with Raheez. The scam, according to the police, was committed with the intention of continuing their friendship after their business failed. They believed that by creating appointment orders similar to these to make up for the loss in the company, they would be compensated financially. 

An allegation of bribery had surfaced involving the personal staff of Health Minister Veena George. The complaint alleged that Akhil Mathew, her personal staff, accepted a bribe of Rs 1 lakh in exchange for facilitating a doctor's appointment. According to the complaint, a middleman Akhil Sajeev was also involved in the transaction.