In the wake of the CPI-M’s allegation that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) sleuths tortured P R Aranvindhakshan and forced him to make a statement against  CPI-M  leader  AC Moideen MLA, Suresh M V, the whistleblower in the case, has urged the ED to shift the arrested accused to a jail outside the state after their custody is period over.

Speaking to media persons in Trissur, Suresh said with the case reaching a major milestone with the questioning of various stakeholders, top party leaders would attempt to sabotage it by influencing the accused.

He said the police probe into the allegation that the  ED  sleuths  have tortured Wadakkanchery councillor P R Aranvindhakshan is only the beginning of the CPI-M’s  bid to sabotage the probe

The CPI-M on Friday alleged the  ED was trying to fabricate evidence against CPM in the  Karuvannur Co-operative bank fraud case. He alleged that the ED sleuths manhandled Aravindakshan and forced him to make a statement that he saw AC  Moideen carrying a sack full of money.

In this connection, the Kochi city police are yet to take a decision on booking the Enforcement Directorate sleuths who allegedly assaulted a CPM councillor while questioning him in connection with the money laundering in the Karuvannur Service Cooperative Bank scam.

The Ernakulam Central Police, which received a complaint from P R Aravindakshan, a councillor in Wadakkanchery municipality, has sought legal advice on whether to register an FIR on the allegation. The ED has questioned Aravindakshan multiple times on the suspicion that he is a close aide of prime accused Satheeshkumar. Aravindakshan filed a complaint on Wednesday, alleging that three ED officials tortured him mentally and physically during the interrogation.

Earlier, when the crime branch had registered two cases against ED officials for allegedly forcing key accused in the 2020 diplomatic channel gold smuggling case, to give statements against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan,   the Kerala High Court had quashed the FIRs. Scrapping the FIRs, the High Court held that police should have approached the Special PMLA Court, which is considering the cases related to the money trail in the gold smuggling, seeking remedy to their grievances that the ED officials were fabricating evidence

It is reported that fraud of more than Rs 500 crore has taken place in Karuvannur cooperative Bank in Thrissur.. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is currently conducting a probe on the scam. Over 12,000 depositors are still in distress. Those who deposited huge amounts are still queuing up before the bank to get  back their hard-earned money

It has been reported that the ED in its probe has collected evidence that points to several people who carried out black money transactions, totalling Rs 500 crore, through the accounts of Satheesh Kumar, who is a key accused in the case.