A CPM local committee member was arrested in Punalur, Kollam, for allegedly selling forged Christmas-New Year Bumper tickets of the Kerala State Lotteries. The tickets were sold with the intent to defraud buyers and make substantial profits.
The accused, identified as Baiju Khan, 38, from Kuzhiyil Veedu at TB Junction, is believed to have sold over 1,000 forged tickets. Each ticket, worth Rs 400, was sold primarily to Sabarimala pilgrims, including people from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and other Keralites from Palakkad and Idukki.
The fraud came to light when two tickets won Rs 5,000 each, and the buyers contacted the agency mentioned on the ticket’s backside. Upon investigation, it was discovered that the original holders of the tickets had already claimed the prize money. The buyers then alerted the Punalur police, who uncovered the fraudulent operation.
Baiju Khan was running two shops at TB Junction, a busy area known as ‘mini Pamba’, frequented by Sabarimala pilgrims. Despite his belief that the tickets would not win prizes, the scheme unraveled when the prizes were claimed, leading to his arrest.
Baiju Khan, a former village secretary of the DYFI and a member of the CPM’s Punalur north local committee, was remanded by a local court. Further investigation is underway to gather more details.
