Kochi: The Enforcement Directorate here on Tuesday arrested former CPI leader N Bhasurangan and his son Akhiljith over the financial irregularities in Thiruvananthapuram's Kandala Service Co-operative Bank after a 10-hour-long interrogation. Manorama News reported that the central agency has taken the duo into custody after finding discrepancies in their statements.
On Tuesday, N Bhasurangan, former president of Kandala Service Co-operative Bank and his son were summoned to the ED office in Kochi for the third time. The officials raised suspicion over the assets of Bhasurangan and his son after the interrogation.
"Akhiljith borrowed over Rs 1 crore from the bank as eight times. Bhasurangan secured over Rs 3.20 crore as a loan from the bank by pledging a document of his 16-cent land. Though the father and son duo had borrowed crores from the bank, they never repaid a single rupee," reported sources close to ED.
Manorama News reported that the central agency will seek custody of the duo after producing them before the court. According to them, both played a crucial role in swindling money from the bank.
The Department of Cooperation in Kerala had detected malpractices amounting to Rs 101 crore at the Kandala Service Cooperative Bank. The bank has to pay Rs 173 crore to its depositors. It also has an outstanding loan payment of Rs 69 crore. The ED raided the bank and residences of former bank secretaries on Wednesday in association with the loan fraud case. Raids were held at the houses of former secretaries Shantakumari Rajendran and Mohan Chandran, as well as the residence of a collection agent, Ani.
Apart from ED, the Crime Branch is also investigating the fraud case.
As Bhasurangan is facing charges in the fraud case, CPI expelled him from the party. The party alleged that Bhasurangan's close association with top CPI and CPM leaders helped him pull off the huge fraud. There are also allegations that he made monthly payments to these leaders in exchange for their wilful ignorance in the matter.
Bhasurangan was also removed from the position of Convenor of the Administrative Committee of the Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (KCMMF), which sells products under the trade name of Milma. His removal from Milma was announced by the state Minister for Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Milk Co-operatives J Chinchu Rani.
