Indian Catholic outfit seeks probe into fraud against farmers
Indian Catholic outfit seeks probe into fraud against farmers.
Updated: August 31, 2024 05:33 PM GMT
A Catholic group has sought a federal probe into an alleged fraud running into millions of rupees that targeted hundreds of cardamom farmers, many of them Catholics in a southern Indian diocese.
Father Sebastian Kochupurackal, general convener of the High Range Samrakshana Samithi (protection council) of Idukki diocese in southern Kerala, said more than 1,500 cardamom farmers had fallen victim to the fraud, which had cost 2.5 billion Indian rupees ($29.8 million).
The priest told UCA News on Aug. 30 that Muhammad Naseer, a Muslim trader from Palakkad district in the southern state, was the kingpin.
According to Kochupurackal, Naseer purchased dry cardamom from the farmers, promising higher returns than the prevailing market rates for their produce.
The priest alleged that he won their trust by paying money at higher rates to a few farmers from his overseas sources.
The payments from overseas also raise “a suspicion of terror links,” said Kochupurackal who is the parish priest of St. George Forane church at Parathode in Idukki diocese of the Kerala-based Eastern rite Syro Malabar Church.
The priest said it “is a fit case” for investigation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the federal agency that probes terror-related cases in the country.
Cardamom is widely cultivated in the hilly Idukki district located in the biodiversity-rich Western Ghats.
Naseer approached the farmers around seven months ago, when the prices of dry cardamom in the Indian market were 2,000 rupees per kilogram.
Most of his victims are Catholic residents of the mountainous Idukki district, Kochupurackal added.
“Naseer initially paid the promised amount and won our goodwill,” a farmer told UCA News on Aug. 30.
The farmer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he was among the victims, but “no one knows the whereabouts of Naseer” now.
His victims have filed cases in various police stations in the district. However, the Kerala police is not known to have not made much headway in investigations.
“Their [farmers] case is weak as they do not possess any legal receipts,” said Rishi Sunish, an office-bearer of the Idukki-Wayanad Cardamom Federation, a farmers’ collective that imparts scientific farming techniques.
Gilson Mathew, the deputy superintendent of police in Idukki, said many complaints were received against Naseer in the district’s police stations.
“We are investigating and will arrest the accused,” the police officer told UCA News on Aug. 30 but refused to divulge any details.
“The fraudster cleverly cheated many farmers who are now left with nothing,” noted Sunish. “Some even parted with the dry cardamom stocked in anticipation of their daughters’ marriage expenses.”
Kochupurackal said that Naseer may have deliberately chosen to defraud farmers from a Christian-majority area.
“The truth will only come to light through an NIA probe,” the priest added.
Christians make up 18 percent of Kerala’s 33 million people, while Muslims are 26 percent and Hindus 54 percent.
