The president of the Kerala unit of the Congress, K. Sudhakaran, was arrested on Friday before being released on bail in a cheating case related to a fake antique dealer.

The arrest was recorded after more than seven hours of questioning by the police crime branch in Kochi.

Sudhakaran, 75, was named as the second accused in the case for allegedly accepting Rs 10 lakh from Monson Mavunkal, the fake antique dealer who has been in judicial custody since September 2021 after his arrest for allegedly swindling several people out of Rs 10 crore.

Kerala High Court’s Justice Ziyad Rahman A.A. had on Wednesday granted Sudhakaran pre-arrest bail. He was released on bail shortly after the arrest.

The Congress has announced a statewide agitation on Saturday to protest the “witch hunt” of its Kerala president.

“I am fully confident that there is nothing in this case to punish me,” Sudhakaran told reporters after being released on bail. “I am a man who has complete faith in the judiciary. So let the court evaluate the merits and demerits of the case.”

Sudhakaran, a Lok Sabha member, pleaded innocence, saying he had known Mavunkal only as a “doctor” whom he had consulted for a skin condition. But that was before Mavunkal’s “antique” business was busted and he turned out to be a quack.