The Communist Party of India (CPI) on Thursday expelled the former Kandala Service Cooperative Bank president N. Bhasurangan from the organisation’s primary membership after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) detained him for questioning on lending and deposit fraud-related money laundering charges.
The CPI also sought to politically distance itself from the embattled leader by removing him from the post of administrative convener, Milma.
CPI Thiruvananthapuram district secretary Mangode Radhakrishnan denied that the party had protected Mr. Bhasurangan despite the Registrar of Cooperative Societies flagging large-scale financial fraud that depleted the bank’s assets by an estimated ₹100 crore during 2015-2021. He said the party had earlier demoted Mr. Bhasurangan from the district executive to the mandalam committee.
