Central agencies aim to destroy cooperative sector: CM Vijayan
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday accused central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) of targeting co-operative sector banks in the state while turning a blind eye to large-scale financial irregularities in other parts of the country.
Vijayan alleged that agencies like ED were coming to Kerala to portray something wrong in the cooperative banks here with “evil intentions” of destroying the sector.
The CM said that such politically motivated steps will neither be accepted nor allowed in the state. He was speaking after inaugurating a conference on security of cooperative sector here.
Vijayan said there are deposits of more than Rs 2.5 lakh crore in cooperative sector banks in the state which are working efficiently and professionally.
“Central agencies are coming here with the aim of destroying this area,” he alleged.
Referring to the Karuvannur Bank scam, Vijayan said that once corruption was exposed in that establishment, both the cooperation department and the police had taken action.
He said action was taken against the culprits, but the government did not close the bank but tried to support it to safeguard people’s trust in cooperative banks.
“However, the ED reached the spot as if it had found something new. It wanted to show that irregularities were taking place with the aim of destroying the cooperative sector in the state. We cannot accept or allow this,” the CM said Alleged.
He further alleged, “Instead of investigating large-scale irregularities in other parts of the country where state governments have taken no action, she is coming here.”
Vijayan also claimed that ED is an agency which has been strongly criticized by many top courts of the country.
He said various public sector banks in the country have non-performing assets worth more than Rs 66 lakh crore and of those, about Rs 16 lakh crore has been waived off by the central government.
“These huge irregularities were committed by people sitting at the top of big corporate companies. They committed fraud and fled abroad,” Vijayan said.
He further alleged that 15 percent of such businessmen are associated with the BJP at the Centre.
“So, they are safe. Nobody questions them. There are some banks which are involved in such activities, but the ED never sees them, never reaches out to them and interrogates them,” he said.
“Instead, it targets the co-operative sector banks which are the backbone of our state. This is not acceptable and will be opposed,” Vijayan said.
He called upon everyone to unite and oppose such activities of central agencies like ED.
The Enforcement Directorate probing the multi-crore Karuvannur Bank scam has arrested PR Aravindakshan, a local CPI(M) leader and Wadakkanchery town councilor. The agency also arrested C K Jills, a former employee of the bank, who had allegedly embezzled bank funds worth Rs 5 crore. The ED had earlier arrested two people in connection with the alleged issuance of ‘benami’ loans from the bank.
On September 11, CPI(M) leader and MLA A C Moideen was questioned by the ED for over nine hours. The investigation into the alleged fraud at the Thrissur-based bank, which began in 2010, has stemmed from 16 FIRs lodged by the Kerala Police (Crime Branch) in Thrissur.
