Kochi/Thiruvananthapuram: A special court considering the money laundering matter in connection with the alleged fraud in the Karuvannur Service Cooperative Bank scam, on Monday, sent two arrested accused to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody for a day. The court gave the agency custody of P R Aravindakshan and C K Jills, who were earlier arrested in the case, till tomorrow. The ED had on September 26 arrested CPI(M) leader and Wadakkanchery municipal councillor, Aravindakshan, in connection with the case. The agency has also arrested a former employee of the Karuvannur cooperative bank Jills, who allegedly siphoned off Rs five crore bank funds.
Meanwhile, senior CPI(M) leader P Jayarajan today alleged that the ED was acting as per the directions of one "actor" in Thrissur. He said it was the crime branch wing of the state police that investigated and found the irregularities and not the ED. "I am sure that all the political leaders (including from the Congress) have the same opinion that the ED has an agenda to damage the reputation of the cooperative sector in the state," Jayarajan told the media in Thiruvananthapuram.
Jayarajan, in an apparent reference to actor-turned-politician and BJP leader Suresh Gopi, said that the media has reported that the agency was acting as per the instructions of an actor. "An actor has now appeared at Thrissur and the media has reported that the agency is acting based on the instructions of the said actor," he said.
He had also claimed that the agency would come to one particular bank in Kannur. "Is he the authority which gives directions to the ED?," Jayarajan asked. Jayarajan also alleged that the actor was attempting to create an anti-Left and anti-government sentiment in the society but the people of the state would see through it.
The CPI(M) had said that the arrest of Aravindakshan was a political witch-hunt by the agency following his complaint to the police, accusing the ED officials of threatening and assaulting him. The ED had earlier arrested one Kiran P P and Satheesh Kumar P in connection with the alleged issuance of Benami loans from the Karuvannur bank.
On September 11, CPI(M) leader and MLA A C Moideen was interrogated for over nine hours by the ED. The ED has been questioning some people involved in the case since it conducted raids at their premises in August. This case of alleged fraud, beginning in 2010, in the Thrissur-based Karuvannur Cooperative Bank triggered a political row in Kerala two years ago.
The money laundering case stems from 16 FIRs registered by the Kerala Police (Crime Branch) in Thrissur. The ED had carried out similar raids in August last year at six locations, including a branch of the bank located in Irinjalakuda, Thrissur. It had attached assets worth Rs 30.70 crore of a commission agent of the bank, Bijoy A K. After the Kerala Police registered the FIR in July 2021, the registrar in their audit found "diversions" of more than Rs 100 crore, the ED had said last year. (PTI)
