The ruling CPI(M) on Monday cracked the whip on persons associated with the financial embezzlement reported from Karuvannur Cooperative Bank in Thrisuur district. Crime Branch wing of Kerala Police on Sunday had arrested Biju Kareem, a CPI(M) local leader who is also the former manager of the Bank, T R Sunil Kumar, former secretary of the Bank, A K Bijoy and C K Jills (former accountant) in connection with the irregularities in the Bank that led to the last week suicide of a customer T M Mukundan who was a Congress leader.
A Vijayaraghavan , state secretary of the CPI(M) told reporters that strict action would be taken against persons who were associated with the misappropriation of Bank funds. The Thrissur District Secretariat as well as the District Committee of the party would meet on Monday and Tuesday to take stock of the situation and recommend to the party leadership the decisions to be taken against those involved in the scandal,” said Vijayaraghavan.
According to Crime Branch officials probing the Karuvannur Bank scandal, some of the Bank staff members misused the documents pawned in the Bank by those who availed loans.
“These documents were used by the Staff as security to avail loan from other sources when they could not mobilise enough funds for their business deals. We suspect many Banks of committing such irregularities,” said an investigating officer.
Meanwhile, officials of the Enforcement Directorate based in Kochi have started collecting details from primary cooperative banks in the State which have accepted deposits and issued loans. “To begin with, details of persons who have deposited Rs 10 lakh and above with these primary cooperative Banks are being collected,” said an official involved in the probe.
The Primary Cooperative Societies are exempted from collecting details about the customers and the ED officials suspect that this clause could have been misused for money laundering operations.
The Kerala Government on its part had appointed a nine-member committee of officials to go into the details of the irregularities associated with the Karuvannur Cooperative Bank. One of the officials told The Pioneer that too much politics in the management of the cooperative banks was killing the system.
“Though there is a recruitment board to appoint employees to these banks, it is usually the party in power that decides who should be appointed to the Banks. So, capabilities and professionalism take back seat while party writs run all over,” said the official.