'Shrewd interrogation tactics to break morale, simply kept me in office for eight hours'

KOCHI: CPM leader K Radhakrishnan MP expressed discontent over the Enforcement Directorate (ED) questioning him for just an hour despite keeping him in the office for eight hours in connection with the Karuvannur Cooperative Bank fraud case.

The interrogation, which began at 11 am yesterday at the ED office in Kochi, ended at 6:30 pm. The ED asked for information from the MP about bank transactions and party accounts during his time as the CPM Thrissur district secretary.

“They are trying to break my morale by false claims of grilling me for eight long hours. I told them about my lack of knowledge of party systems in Karuvannur. The party has no other systems beyond the board of directors. I have not interfered in the day-to-day affairs of the bank. The ED wanted to know about the relationship between the CPM Thrissur District Committee and Karuvannur Bank. They even asked about the account of the CPM Thrissur District Committee in Karuvannur Bank.

Despite my answer, ED officials kept on repeating the same question. It was after checking the documents that they were convinced. I had already handed over my assets and account details to the ED. As a five-time MLA and an MP, they can check if I have acquired any wealth beyond my income,” said Radhakrishnan.