KASARAGOD: A month after veteran CPM leader P Raghavan died, Kasaragod Service Cooperative Bank served a recovery notice on his family to recoup Rs 1.4 crore he owed to the bank. The bank’s secretary P Janaki said the recovery notice was a routine exercise to get the money due to the bank and refused to reveal more details citing the privacy of the borrower.
Two-time MLA Raghavan, 78, who died on July 5, is credited with helping start at least 25 cooperative societies in the district with the CPM-controlled Kasaragod Service Cooperative Bank being one of them. He was also a member of the party’s district secretariat, the highest decision-making body, for 37 years.
His family said they were unaware of the debt until the recovery notice came. According to reports, he had taken a loan of Rs 50 lakh and took another Rs 40 lakh loan to repay the first loan. Over the years, the loan amount ballooned to Rs 1.4 crore, said his son Ajith Kumar. He said the family has not approached the party to help settle the debt. “We have land to liquidate and repay the loan,” he said.