Idukki/Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 20 (PTI) The alleged suicide by a small-time trader at Kattappana in the hill district of Idukki on Friday due to non-release of money deposited by him in a CPI(M) controlled cooperative bank led to protests by local Congress leaders who blamed the Left party for the man's death.
The trader, Sabu, was found hanging on the staircase outside the Kattappana Rural Development Cooperative Society bank in the morning, sparking off an hours-long protest by local Congress leaders who did not allow the police to remove the body from the site.
An officer of Kattappana police station said that the protest ended in the afternoon and thereafter, the body was taken for post-mortem.
The protestors told TV channels that Sabu took the extreme step as the bank was not releasing to him the Rs 25 lakh he had deposited there.
He needed the money for the treatment of his wife who is hospitalised for uterus removal, they said.
Leader of Opposition in the Asembly, V D Satheesan, told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram that Sabu was the latest "martyr" of the "loot" allegedly being carried out by the CPI(M) in the cooperative sector.
He claimed that the trader's suicide note states that the bank secretary and two other staff members were responsible for his death as they insulted him whenever he went there asking for his money.
Satheesan alleged that the CPI(M) wrested control of the bank from the UDF with the help of the state government and that is why the institution was in a crisis.
He further alleged that the bank was pushed into financial ruin due to the illegal loans given to party supporters, favourites and relatives.
The opposition leader claimed that wherever the CPI(M) had seized control of the banks in an undemocratic manner, the same financial crisis was prevailing there.
The CPI(M) has adopted a stand that has completely destroyed the cooperative sector by tarnishing its credibility, he alleged.
Satheesan demanded that strict action be taken by the police against those responsible for Sabu's death.
The police said that it has registered a case under section 194 (police to enquire and report on suicide) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and further penal provisions would be added as the investigation progresses.