Workers belonging to two groups within the United Democratic Front (UDF) clashed over the disbanding of the director board of the Pallikkunnu Service Cooperative Bank following rift among UDF members in the board. Four persons were injured in the incident.
The director board of the bank had been disbanded by the Joint Registrar of Cooperatives on January 6 following complaints of irregularities submitted by the three Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) members in the 12- member director board. While six of the nine Congress members in the board backed the president, M.V. Pradeep Kumar, three other Congress directors supported the IUML directors.
The rift in the UDF-controlled director board of the bank was said to be the outcome of the differences between supporters of Congress leader K. Sudhakaran and his rivals at Pallikkunnu panchayat.
Six Congress director board members who backed Mr. Kumar are all supporters of former local Congress leader P.K. Ragesh, who had recently broken away from the Sudhakaran camp.
Tense situation prevailed at the bank as supporters of Mr. Ragesh, and supporters of Mr. Sudhakaran and IUML workers came to face to face.
Mr. Ragesh; his brother, P.K. Sooraj; Mr. Kumar; and bank internal auditor K.C Rajeevan were injured when they were allegedly manhandled by UDF workers supporting the rival group when they entered the bank in the morning. The police also caned the workers of the two groups.
Sit-in
Mr. Ragesh and his supporters are now staging a sit-in at the bank in protest against the disbanding of the director board.
A section of Congress leaders, including Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary P. Ramakrishnan and former Minister K.P. Noorudhin had staged a sit-in at the Town police station on Wednesday demanding the release of the Mr. Ragesh and others arrested from the bank. The protest at the station had ended after the arrested were released on registering cases against them.
