Arun Lakshman/ July 31 (IANS)

Kerala witnessed a sad and heart-wrenching scene on Tuesday, July 26 when an octogenarian, Devassy protested in front of scam-hit Karuvannur cooperative bank in Thrissur district of Kerala with his wife Philomina’s coffin.  Devassy and his family were protesting in front of the bank as his wife had died at Thrissur government medical college following his inability to provide her better treatment in a good private hospital due to lack of funds. Sadly, Devassy has a deposit of Rs 30 lakh in the bank but the bank did not pay him money when he needed it most to provide better treatment to his wife Philomina who is a retired employee of Kerala government service.

The death of Philomina and the family bringing her dead body in front of the Karuvannur cooperative bank headquarters has CPI-M which is controlling the bank running for cover. The party while maintaining that it had taken strong action against all those involved in the scam including party local level leaders, several skeletons are tumbling from the cupboard.

The father of Sunilkumar who was the Secretary of the bank and who is in jail told media persons that his son was innocent and had given money to people according to the wishes of former CPI-M district secretary, C.K. Chandran, and former minister and former CPI-M district secretary, A.C. Moideen.

Devassy while speaking to IANS said, “ It was the life earnings of me and my wife. I had done several odd jobs in Mumbai and saved my money and now I am driving an autorickshaw at the age of eighty. Even the whole retirement benefits of my wife were also deposited in this bank. I could not provide better treatment to my wife and I strongly believe that if I had money I would have given her better treatment at a private hospital in Thrissur.”

He said that the bank authorities treated him like a beggar and were asking umpteen questions as if he had gone to the bank for alms.

In another tragic incident, a 70-year-old person, E.V. Raman of Thalikulam in Thrissur died after failing to get treatment following lack of funds. Raman has a deposit of Rs 10.04 lakh in the scam-hit Karuvannur cooperative bank.

He had to pay Rs 3 lakh for the nerve treatment in a private hospital and after he had given a request to the bank, they paid him only Rs 50,000 and he was shifted to a small hospital where facilities were not proper. He passed away on July 25 without getting adequate treatment even though he had an amount of Rs 10.04 lakh in the bank. Sadly, Raman had sold his house and deposited the money in the bank, and was staying with his sister.

Another woman Sarojini (71), a widow and her divorcee daughter was living off the interest of a deposit of Rs 18 lakh in the bank. When the bank was scam hit, they were paid a meager amount of Rs 20000 and the bank officials were not properly listening to their demand.

Speaking to IANS, Sarojini said, “  The bank manager was asking me as to why I was admitting my granddaughter to an expensive school in Thrissur when I told him that I need money badly to pay the fee for my granddaughter. This is ridiculous and criminal. We have put our money and the bank don’t have any answer as to where the money has gone but they are insulting the depositors. More than that we have to stand in queue for long hours to even meet the bank manager.”

Meanwhile, the opposition Congress has stepped up the agitation against the scam, and leader of Opposition in the Kerala legislative assembly, V.D. Satheeshan called for a CBI inquiry.

Satheeshan while speaking to media persons  said, “ The cooperative bank is controlled by the CPI-M and there are reports that those who are having good connections in the party were able to get back their money but a majority of the hapless depositors are in the lurch and are not getting any money.”

He said,” It has been a year since the fraud was detected and the bank was unable to pay depositors and the total loss is around Rs 300 crore. We are now hearing heart-wrenching stories of how the people suffered as they were unable to get their money for medical or educational needs.”

He said that the scam involved not only the bank employees but was a part of a deep-rooted conspiracy and hence CBI probe was a must.

The state higher education minister, R. Bindu who is the local MLA, made matters worse by stating money was given to the family of deceased Philomina and that the public display of her dead body before the headquarters of the bank was part of a political conspiracy. The minister drew flak from across the state and she had to hurriedly withdraw her statement and said that her words were distorted by the media.

The Opposition leader in his letter to the Chief Minister called upon the government to initiate a CBI probe and urged the government to pass an Ordinance to strengthen the Deposit Guarantee Scheme and pledged the full support of the opposition for saving the cooperative movement which is the backbone of the rural economy of Kerala.

In another development the state minister for Cooperatives and senior leader of CPI-M, V.N. Vasavan said that around 124 cooperative banks in the state had some issues but that the government will support these banks and help them come up.