THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The probe into the financial fraud unearthed in the Government Secretariat Employees Housing Cooperative Society is progressing at a snail’s pace. Though weeks have passed since the fraud came to light, society secretary Ravindran, who is the key accused, is still at large. Meanwhile the High Court has stayed the government decision to suspend the director board of the society.Express had reported that bringing the accused in financial frauds in cooperative societies before justice would be difficult. With the High Court staying the suspension of the board of directors, those who were aware of the fraud could put a spoke in the investigation process.
The Kerala Secretariat Association which controls the society, demanded that the culprits be booked without delay. Association secretary T Sreekumar said they had demanded a Crime Branch probe into the scam. “We have moved the High Court demanding a Crime Branch probe. Though we had demanded the immediate arrest of Ravindran, the government is hesitant owing to political reasons, he said.
The Kerala Secretariat Employees Association leaders had openly stated that Ravindran was being protected by the CPM district leadership and a CPM MLA. The move is to put the pro-Congress Association under a cloud, Sreekumar said. Kerala Secretariat Employees general secretary M S Bijukuttan said the allegation was baseless. “The allegation against us is baseless.
We don’t have any business to protect the accused who is a senior leader of the pro- Congress Kerala Secretariat Association,” he said adding the Employees Association had asked the Chief Minister to take strong action against the guilty.The Employees Association will move the High Court to vacate the stay as early as possible. The Registrar of Cooperative Society had stated that it was a long and strenuous process to bring the accused in scam cases to book as the latter would go for all options to save themselves.