THRISSUR: CPM leader and former minister A C Moideen, in connection with the Karuvannur bank fraud case, will appear before the ED on the 11th for questioning. The ED rejected Moideen's request for more time to complete the interrogation. He requested an extension until the 14th but the instruction is to be present at the Kochi office at 11 am on the 11th of this month. There are also hints that he may be arrested after the interrogation. The ED is preparing to take strict action based on the statements of those arrested and interrogated in the case.

The ED had also questioned CPM District Leader C K Chandran, former bank manager Biju Karim, the arrested middleman P P Kiran and suspected benami Satish Kumar on Monday. It is reported that they have provided statements against high-ranking officials, including Moideen. Secretary T R Sunil Kumar, Accountant C K Jiles and others have also given statements against Moideen.

It is alleged that Moideen has a relationship with Biju Karim and has exchanged WhatsApp messages. However, Moideen has denied this. The Cooperation Department had found that Biju had a major role in inflating the value of the collateral in the loan fraud. Meanwhile, the Secretary of the Cooperation Department will hold a hearing on the appeal filed by 19 people including members of the governing body. Their demand is to be exempted from the proceedings.