Thrissur: On a day when all Malayalis across the globe celebrated Thiruvonam with fervour, feasting on a sumptuous Onasadya, Mapranam native Joshy Antony observed a fast at his house on Tuesday, urging the state government and cooperative department to speed up the settlement of investors who fell prey to the Karuvannur Cooperative Service Bank fraud.
Antony and his family members had invested Rs 75 lakh before the Rs 200-crore scam at the bank came to light.
Talking to Onmanorama, the 52-year-old said that the token strike on Tuesday was aimed at protecting the life of each investor linked to the Karuvannur bank.
“Neither the cooperative department officials nor the Karuvannur bank administration is bothered to communicate with the investors. It is the right of any investor to get back their investment. The bank initially offered investors an annual interest of 11.5 per cent and that’s when myself and my relatives invested Rs 75 lakh in total at the bank.
“The interest has now been brought down to a meagre four per cent, which was decided on without even informing or getting the consent of the investors. When contacted, the bank administration too is clueless as to who decided to reduce the interest,” said Antony.
Antony’s plight came to light when he put a banner in front of his house in Mapranam for its sale to raise funds for his surgery in May this year.
“I observed a fast on this Thiruvonam day so that all the depositors get back their money at the rate of interest that was offered earlier. Similarly, I request Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to intervene in this matter as soon as possible,” he added.
Many investors and politicians, barring those from CPM, visited Antony during his fast.
