Kochi: A Special Court trying money laundering cases rejected the bail applications of the former CPI leader N Bhasurangan (70) and his son Akhiljith J B (28) arrested in connection with the loan fraud at Kandala Service Cooperative Bank in Thiruvananthapuram district.
This is the second time the Special Court in Ernakulam has rejected their bail applications, said Directorate of Enforcement's Special Public Prosecutor M J Santhosh.
ED has also issued summons to Bhasuragan's wife B Jayakumari (63), his daughters Abhima M B (35) and Ashwathy R B (43), and Ashwathy's husband V R Balamurugan (50) to appear before the central agency on February 5.
On January 19, ED submitted a preliminary charge sheet to the court charging all seven persons with siphoning Rs 3.2 crore from the bank by mortgaging a 16-cent plot again and again. Special Public Prosecutor Santhosh said except for Bhasuragan, all his six relatives took loans from Kandala bank. "But the money reached Bhasuragan's bank account," he said.
ED arrested Bhasuragan and his son Akhiljith on November 21, 2023. For the past 70 days, Bhasurangan has been in the high-security Viyyur prison in Thrissur and Akhiljith is in Ernakulam District Prison, said Santhosh.
On Monday, the Special Court also allowed the central agency to serve copies of the charge sheet to the accused in digital format.
The State government's Department of Cooperation had initially detected massive fraud in the CPI-controlled Kandala Service Cooperative Bank in Thiruvananthapuram's Maranalloor village. It found that the fraudulent activities depreciated the society's assets by Rs 101 crore during seven years between 2015 and 2021. "Bhasurangan happened to be the overall in-charge of the bank as President, who played a key role in sanctioning various unauthorised loans," said ED when it arrested the father-son duo in November.
When ED first detained Bhasurangan, the Communist Party of India (CPI) first downgraded him from the party's District Executive Council to a mandalam (panchayat) committee. Later, the CPI expelled him from the party.
Santhosh said the preliminary charge sheet dealt only with the alleged fraud committed directly by Bhasurangan and his family. The bigger loan fraud perpetrated in the bank would be dealt with in the supplementary charge sheet, said the special public prosecutor.
