Probe into Elanji Gramin Co-operative Society fraud

KOCHI: The police have launched a probe into an economic fraud running into lakhs of rupees at Elanji Gramin Co-operative Society in Muvattupuzha after an attendant who is facing charges alleged that he was made a scapegoat by the board of directors. 

Jishnu Sasi, 29, of Elanji village, gave the submission before a court here while moving an anticipatory bail in the case, in which he is accused of misappropriating lakhs of rupees from the society. The court granted him anticipatory bail.

According to the police, though the crime took place between April 1, 2018 and March 31, 2019, the case was registered only on August 4, 2021. As per the complaint, the accused had forged the signature of the members of the society to join chit funds in their name and used these documents to misappropriate `26 lakh.

But contesting the complainant’s statement, Jishnu alleged that the president, along with other members of the board, misappropriated funds. The court granted Jishnu anticipatory bail after the police failed to present documents to substantiate the allegations against him. The police also could not give a proper explanation as to why there was a delay of nearly two years in reporting the matter, even though the fraud was unearthed back in 2019.