Karuvannur bank fraud: Whistle-blower missing, mobile phone last traced in Kannur by brother

Thrissur: A CPM local functionary who was expelled by the party for exposing the Karuvannur Co-operative Bank fraud is reportedly missing.

Sujesh Kannatt has been missing since Sunday. But his mobile phone was last traced in Kannur by his brother who had been tracking his movements fearing revenge by politically connected people behind the scam.

Sujesh was the former branch secretary of Madayikonam unit of the CPM. He was instrumental in bringing the multi-crore Karuvannur Cooperative Bank fraud into public realm. Subsequently, he was expelled by the party whose members were at the helm of the bank located at Karuvannur in Irinjalakuda for decades.

Sujesh, who faced threat from many quarters after single-handedly fighting against corruption in the CPM-ruled bank, left home on Sunday morning for Thrissur in his car and did not return home, his brother Suresh said in his complaint given to the police.

Suresh claimed he had installed a tracking facility in his mobile phone fearing threats to him.

He informed the police that Sujesh’s last known tower location was at Dharmashala in Kannur on Sunday night when he apparently switched on the mobile to access the internet. Later, the mobile phone was found switched off again.

The police said that a case has been registered and an alert notice has gone to all police stations in the State.

Sujesh is a managing partner of an educational institution in Thrissur. He has been carrying out an inner-party fight against the corrupt governing council of the Karuvannur bank for the last five years.

He was ousted from the CPM after he held an indefinite strike before the bank in protest against the corrupt ways of the bank director board and many officials. The Porathisseri local committee of the CPM had expelled him from the party's primary membership one-and-a-half-month ago.

But undeterred Sujith went ahead with his fight. He gave memoranda to the chief minister and cooperative department officials, exposing graft in the Karuvannur bank. But soon he faced a threat to his life and had given a complaint to the police in this regard.

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Onmanorama. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.