Pulpally: In a tit-for-tat move against the Congress — which is spearheading an agitation against the CPM-ruled Brahmagiri Development Society (BDS) in Sulthan Bathery — the CPM has joined the protest launched by the family of Rajendran Nair, the farmer who died by suicide allegedly due to the action of the Congress-controlled Pulpally Service Cooperative Bank.

The bank initiated revenue recovery proceedings for ₹25 lakh, even though Rajendran Nair had pledged his land for only ₹80,000.

Rajendran’s family — including his two sons, father Sreedharan Nair, and wife Jalaja — has been on an indefinite protest in front of the bank since October 3, demanding the immediate return of the land documents. The agitation gained attention when 95-year-old Sreedharan Nair was brought to the protest site in an ambulance. His condition later worsened, and he was shifted to a hospital.

Expressing solidarity with the family, members of Karshaka Sangham, the farmers’ wing of the CPM, staged a protest march to the bank and joined the sit-in. The protesters demanded the immediate return of the land documents, which had been pledged for just ₹80,000.

CPM state committee member CK Saseendran, who led the protest, alleged that the family had been cheated by Congress leaders, who “siphoned off large sums of money while the farmer had pledged his land only for ₹80,000.”

“We fully support the agitation and will continue until justice is served,” he said, adding that the bank’s administrative body should accept the family’s demands without delay.

The alleged fraud came to light only after the suicide of Rajendran Nair (60), a native of Kelakavala, in 2023. He reportedly ended his life in protest against the bank authorities’ failure to act on his complaint. Although he had availed a loan of only ₹80,000 — as shown in documents held by his family — the bank later issued a revenue recovery notice for ₹25 lakh, which allegedly drove him to suicide.

Police had arrested Congress leader KK Abraham, then president of the bank’s administrative body, and bank secretary KT Remadevi for alleged corruption. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had also recorded their arrest in connection with the financial irregularities.