Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 25 (PTI) Kerala Minister for Cooperation and Registration V N Vasavan on Sunday said there was no need for a probe by any central agency into the multi-crore loan scam reported in a ruling CPI(M)-controlled co-operative bank in Thrissur as competent officers of his department and the police were investigating the matter.

The minister, while speaking to media persons, said a probe by a central agency is only required if the officers here are unable to carry out the investigation properly which was not the case.

He also said that the opposition would always make such demands for a probe by CBI or any other agency, and that cannot be reason to hand over the inquiry.

Meanwhile, media reports claimed that four persons were arrested by the Crime Branch on Sunday in the case.

However, it was denied by a senior Crime Branch officer who told PTI that no arrests have been made in the case till now.

An alleged loan scam, to the tune of over Rs 100 crore, has been reported in Karavannur Co-Operative bank following which police has registered a case against six bank officials and launched investigation.

After several people including local customers raised apprehensions about the bank's functioning, an audit had been conducted there recently, in which the charges were reportedly found to be true.

During the inspection, it was also found that loans were sanctioned on the property pledged by local customers without their knowledge and the loan amount was credited multiple times to the selected accounts.

The case was registered against the bank officials, including the secretary of the bank, who were already placed under suspension over the allegations.

Kerala BJP president K Surendran had recently alleged that the scam was one of the biggest bank frauds ever reported in the state and the government was conducting a Crime Branch investigation out of fear that the central agencies would take up the matter.

He had claimed that the ruling party had crores of black money investments in the co-operative banks and that they had misused these institutions to utilise that illegal fund during the April 6 assembly polls.

He had also urged the Election Commission to carry out a probe into the allegations raised by the investors of Karavannur co-operative bank that their money had been used for the recent polls.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)