The Communist Party of India (Marxist) is making a mockery of the public by lending support to the accused in the the multi-crore loan scam at the Karuvannur Service Cooperative Bank, Union Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan has said.
Speaking to presspersons here on Saturday, Mr. Muraleedharan said that the party’s ploy of painting itself as a victim of the Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s raids will not work this time around. It should take up the matter legally if it had grounds to challenge the action, he said.
Mr. Muraleedharan’s comments came in the wake of the ED’s 22-hour raid under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act of 2002 at former Minister and Kunnamkulam MLA A.C. Moideen’s residence recently. The raid was part of an investigation against benamis and beneficiaries who allegedly siphoned off funds of more than ₹150 crore from Karuvannur Service Cooperative Bank, according to an ED statement.
CPI(M) State Secretary M.V. Govindan had on Friday accused the Congress of aligning with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and investigating agencies under Union government’s control to prosecute a slander campaign against the Left Democratic Front(LDF) government with an eye on the Puthuppally Assembly byelection scheduled on September 5. The Congress party had tried to spotlight the issue by taking our protest marches to Mr. Moideen’s residence.
Mr. Muraleedharan said that several people from economically backward backgrounds, who depend heavily on the the co-operative sector, were driven to suicide due to the scam which caused huge losses to the investors. It is the responsibility of the investigating agencies to intervene in people’s issues.
