ED questions Kerala ex-MP PK Biju in Karuvannur lender ‘scam’ ahead of polls. CPM claims ‘not scared’
4 min read
Chennai: Right after a temporary split, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has once more stepped up its probe in the Karuvannur Service Co-operative Financial institution income-laundering circumstance, questioning CPM’s Kerala point out secretariat member P.K. Biju in relationship with its probe Thursday.Biju, a previous Alathur MP, was questioned by a workforce of the ED in Kochi.
The company has also summoned Thrissur Corporation councillor P.K. Shajan to show up right before it Friday. Before Biju, senior CPM leaders A.C. Moideen and M.K. Kannan were questioned in the alleged loan rip-off in the Thrissur-based bank that is controlled by the communist occasion.


Demonstrate Full Posting


Although Shajan and Biju had been customers of the CPM-appointed committee that probed the alleged irregularities in the lender, the ED claims the rip-off took area on the instruction of Moideen, who was the minister for regional self-authorities in between 2016 and 2021 in the earlier Left Democratic Front (LDF) rule Kerala.
According to the ED, its probe revealed that, on the instructions of specified individuals, financial loans were being disbursed by the lender manager in income to non-member ‘benamis’ by mortgaging qualities of poor prospects without the need of their knowledge. The cash was allegedly laundered to gain the accused. In 2021, a Kerala Police probe had located that Rs 150 crore was allegedly siphoned off by the bank personnel.This year, the ED reportedly revealed to the Election Fee, the Reserve Bank of India and Union finance ministry, in a letter dated 16 January, that the “CPM experienced five undisclosed accounts in the bank”.The ED’s new summons to CPM leaders ahead of the Lok Sabha polls have designed ripples in the condition.Difficult the agency to locate the alleged “secret accounts”, CPM senior chief M.V. Govindan mentioned the get together was “not scared” of the ED. “The ED and central authorities who have arrested leaders like (Delhi main minister) Arvind Kejriwal in untrue instances, can arrest any individual, but the bash won’t be worried,” he instructed the media Monday, asserting that the CPM did not have accounts that hadn’t been uncovered to the Election Commission.
On 30 March, PM Narendra Modi in a telephone call to BJP employees in Kerala had stated he would “ensure that criminals concerned in the Karuvannur financial institution fraud have been punished” and justice was served to individuals who had missing their money.“The INDIA bloc has been fashioned to conceal every other’s corrupt pursuits. The total region is informed that the hyperlinks of gold smuggling are linked to a distinct office. Likewise, the Karuvannur Company Cooperative Financial institution rip-off will involve the communists who have been implicated. This rip-off has resulted in the loot of dollars belonging to the very poor,” he stated.
Also Go through: A very well-retained top secret about Pinarayi Vijayan’s CPM is out in the open—factionalism
Alleged scam & its poll impact
Found almost 20 km away from Thrissur, Karuvannur Services Co-operative Financial institution is an agricultural society in Moorkanad.
Facts about the alleged rip-off involving the lender arrived to light in 2021, when the secretary in cost of the bank, Sreekala E.S., approached the law enforcement accusing a number of workforce of misappropriation of funds.The ED commenced probing the scenario in August of the very same year. It was observed that the title deeds of a lot of borrowers were employed to sanction loans to 3rd-functions from 2011 to 2021.The Kerala Superior Court this January slammed the ED for hold off in probe. Listening to a petition by 1 of the accused against the confiscation of his residence, Justice Devan Ramachandran asked what the agency experienced been carrying out for the very last a few many years and noticed that the investigation could not go on indefinitely.Even though the situation has cast a shadow in excess of Kerala’s CPM management, it has become a poll plank in Thrissur, one particular of the substantial-profile constituencies that is witnessing a triangular contest.
Reacting to the current developments, BJP applicant Suresh Gopi said the ED would finish its probe on time and the culprits would be punished. At a campaign occasion in Thrissur district, the actor-turned-politician reported the people today who ended up criticising the BJP had a “hidden understanding”, seemingly referring to the CPM and the Congress.The previous Rajya Sabha MP experienced carried out an 18-km foot march in the district in Oct 2023 protesting in opposition to the alleged money laundering at the bank. He also paid tribute to five victims of the alleged fraud, who died by suicide right after getting rid of revenue.(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Also Examine: Pinarayi Vijayan remains immune to graft prices but new ebook says his family sought favours
