The Income Tax Department has frozen the account of CPI-M Thrissur district committee in a nationalised bank on the charge that the account was not reflected in the annual returns filed by the party.

The Income Tax (IT) Department has frozen the account of the CPI-M at the Bank of India branch, MG Road, Thrissur following a raid on Friday at the branch. In the raid, it was noticed that the CPI-M district committee had withdrawn large amounts of money from the account in the last few months. The account has an amount of Rs 4.80 crore at present. Rs one crore was withdrawn from the account this month.

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The I-T Department has also instructed the CPI-M district committee not to utilize Rs one crore amount withdrawn from the account and demanded clarification on the source of funds.

The Income Tax Department authorities said the account maintained by the CPI-M Thrissur District Committee at the Bank of India, MG Road Branch, was not reflected in the annual returns filed by the party.

The Income Tax Department sources said that those responsible have to explain why the CPI-M did not include it in the annual returns, the party will also have to confirm the source of the funds available in the account.

CPI-M Thrissur District Secretary MM Varghese, who was questioned by Income Tax officials at the Kochi office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday, said that there is nothing to conceal for the party. He had appeared at the ED office as a part of the investigation into the Karuvannur Cooperative Bank scam.

Earlier, the ED, which is probing into the Karuvannur Cooperative Bank scam, had found that unaccounted transactions had taken place in around 25 bank accounts, which were operated by various area committees of the CPI-M. Subsequently, the probe was extended to the bank accounts of the CP-M Thrissur district committee too.

The ED has also informed the Election Commission of India (ECI), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Union Finance Ministry that the CPI-M has undisclosed accounts in many cooperative banks in Thrissur district.