Kala Raju, beleaguered CPI(M) councillor in Koothattukulam municipality in Kerala, had in her letter to the party State secretary last year accused the local party leadership of “abandoning her in her hour of need.”
She insinuated that Sunny Kuriakose, the incumbent municipal vice chairperson and CPI(M) area committee member, had forced her to “undersell” her house and property to clear her debts with the Koothattukulam Farmers Service Co-Operative Bank Ltd in his capacity as the bank president just a month after her husband’s death during the pandemic in 2021. The letter dated October 2, 2024 has now emerged in the media. She had sent a similar letter to the CPI (M) district committee as well.
In the letter, she alleged that despite her husband’s death on May 5, 2021, the bank kept on pushing her to repay a loan of ₹10 lakh he had availed of from the bank. Her request seeking more time, citing her helplessness, was turned down both by Mr. Kuriakose and the bank’s managing director.
“Instead, Mr. Kuriakose warned that I would lose my house and land unless the debt was cleared at the earliest,” she alleged in the letter.
Ms. Raju further accused Mr. Kuriakose of facilitating the sale of her property of 30 cents and house to a quarry owner for half the asking price of ₹6 lakh a cent. She was allegedly made to deposit the first instalment of ₹52.50 lakh from the sale of the property in the bank’s suspense account, and ₹22.50 lakh was accounted for clearing the debt, including a loan of ₹50,000 taken by her husband’s sister.
She further alleged that no discount in interest eligible in the event of a one-time settlement was granted to her.
Kuriakose denies charges
Mr. Kuriakose shot down the allegations, asking “what stopped her” from going public with the allegations for three years. The loan was taken in 2015, and no money was repaid till 2021, he said.
“She had sold her property to someone out of her free will. The bank had given her the lawfully permissible discount of about ₹4 lakh out of the debt of around ₹24 lakh, which included the loans she had taken as a Kudumbashree member. In fact, the party had taken the initiative to set up for her a Kudumbashree hotel considering that she had no other means of income,” he said.
Mr. Kuriakose further denied having any role in forcing her to undersell her property. He claimed that 15 cents of the property was wetland and that previous attempts to sell it had proved futile.
Published – January 23, 2025 04:09 pm IST
#Kala #Rajus #letter #CPIM #State #secretary #October #accused #party #local #leadership #abandoning #hour
Source link