Kerala: Police make first arrest in appointment bribery case linked to Health Minister's office

Thiruvananthapuram: The Cantonment Police on Tuesday (Oct 3) took an individual involved in the fake job scam linked to the office of Kerala's health minister Veena George. After hours of interrogation, Raheez, a native of Kozhikode and a friend of the accused Akhil Sajeev, who was named accused in the case was taken into custody. 

Also read: Kerala appointment bribery case: Akhil Sajeev accused of receiving Rs 5 lakh

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. 

Raheez and Muhammad Abdul Basith, a friend of the complainant and Malappuram native Haridas, were being questioned by the police at the same time. Haridas was also asked to appear for questioning on Tuesday, according to the police, but his phone was unreachable.

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. The complaint was filed by Haridasan, a resident of Malappuram. In response, the minister's office forwarded the complaint to the Director-General of Police (DGP) for further investigation.
 

• Health Minister's office
• Raheez arrested