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Summary:

Businessman Anil Thampi was arrested in Chennai on October 26, 2025, for his alleged involvement in a real estate scam in Thiruvananthapuram. The scam involved illegally acquiring and selling a valuable mansion by using a woman to impersonate the doctor’s daughter. A Congress leader assisted in moving the fraudulent ownership claim through concerned departments. Thampi is charged with impersonation, conspiracy, forgery, and confidence trickery. The police are also investigating possible corruption among revenue department officials involved in transferring the property titles. The police have already arrested the woman who impersonated the doctor’s daughter and the Congress leader who aided in the alleged crime. A lookout notice had been issued for Thampi, and police tracked him down in Chennai.

News Article:

Businessman Arrested in Elaborate Thiruvananthapuram Real Estate Scam

Thiruvananthapuram, October 26, 2025 – Anil Thampi, a 48-year-old businessman, has been arrested in Chennai in connection with an elaborate real estate scam involving a valuable property in Jawahar Nagar, Thiruvananthapuram. Assistant Commissioner of Police Stuart Keeler announced the arrest, stating that a plainclothes crime squad apprehended Thampi early Sunday morning.

The case centers around the illegal acquisition and subsequent sale of a ten-room mansion situated on 14 cents of prime land. According to police, Thampi allegedly recruited a woman, identified as Merin from Kollam, to impersonate the adopted daughter of the doctor who owned the property. The mansion had remained unoccupied for decades after the doctor emigrated to the United States.

Police allege that Merin used fraudulent documents to claim legal heir status and take possession of the property, after she approached the Revenue and Municipal Corporation authorities. A Congress leader, Ananthapuri Manikandan, is also implicated, accused of using political connections to facilitate the transfer of ownership through relevant government departments. The property was then purportedly “sold” to a woman named Vasantha, suspected of being Thampi’s front, before being transferred to Thampi’s father-in-law.

Thampi faces charges including impersonation, conspiracy, forgery, and confidence trickery. Police are also investigating possible corruption within the revenue department, looking into officials who may have facilitated the fraudulent transfer of the property without proper due diligence.

Merin and Manikandan had been arrested earlier and are currently in judicial custody. After issuing a lookout notice and tracking Thampi’s digital footprint, police located him in Chennai. Thampi has been produced before a magistrate in Chennai, and authorities are securing a transfer warrant to bring him to Thiruvananthapuram for arraignment.

ACP Keeler said the police will submit their findings to the court, the government, and the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau for further action. The investigation is ongoing.

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