Thiruvananthapuram: Sajitha Shankhar, a renowned painter, finds herself facing a financial crisis, with all her savings tied up in the Thiruvithamcore Cooperative Society and no returns in sight. For Sajitha, it is a deeply unsettling situation, as the income she earned over the years now feels unreachable.

Following a complaint she lodged, the Fort Police registered a case against the cooperative society. Sajitha’s story is not an isolated one; many others have come forward with similar grievances, claiming their life savings deposited with the bank have vanished into thin air.

Sajitha had entrusted the cooperative bank with all her earnings over a decade, including prize money from various awards and proceeds from selling her artworks. "I deposited the money because of my friendship with its manager Deepa," she explained in an interview with Manorama. "The interest I earned from those deposits helped me cover my living expenses, including my monthly rent."

As a full-time artist with no other source of income, Sajitha now finds herself on the brink of a financial collapse. "My entire livelihood is at stake. For the past year and a half, I have been consumed by this battle to recover my money, unable to even create a new work of art. I have no other options left. Every day, I am forced to visit the bank and stay there late into the night, hoping for a solution. The only thing that now keeps me going is my inner strength, which has helped me navigate life’s crises on my own," she added.

It was at the Thakarapparambu branch of the Thiruvithamcore Cooperative Bank—where BJP leader M.S. Kumar served as president and G. Manikyam as vice-president—that Sajitha deposited her money.

"About a year and a half ago," Sajitha recalls, "I went to withdraw Rs 2 lakh for an upcoming trip to Europe. But the bank told me they didn’t have enough money, so I could not take out the amount. When they refused to release the funds, I began a hunger strike at the bank. Eventually, they paid me the amount, but only in six instalments. By the time I returned from abroad, my fixed deposit had matured. But when I asked for my money, I was met with the same excuse—that they didn’t have the funds. It was so shocking."

As a full-time artist without a regular monthly income, Sajitha had relied on the interest from her deposits to cover living expenses, including rent and petrol. Unable to access her money, she began visiting the bank daily, staging hunger strikes. "Every night, the police would be called, and a team, including women officers, would come. At that point, Vice-President G Manikyam would sign an agreement promising a partial payment by a certain date. But when I returned on the promised day, they would give me the same excuse—there is no money. Manager Deepa told me there was not a single rupee in the bank."

Days turned into months with no resolution. Recently, Sajitha was told that M S Kumar had resigned as president and that her money would be returned once a new administrative council took charge after an election. "They even gave this to me in writing," she said. "I was told the election would happen by the end of last month, but it didn't. Later, I learned that the president had gone into hiding. That was when I finally decided to approach the police."

The Fort Police have now registered a case based on her complaint. "So far, 78 other people have lodged similar complaints, all of them ordinary people. Their lives have become precarious, just like mine. We all deserve justice. When faced with situations like this, some people think of suicide. If things continue this way, you might hear that I, too, have taken such a step," Sajitha said.

Scam worth Rs 5 crore
As per the cases registered in connection with the financial fraud at the Thiruvithamcore Cooperative Society, the total value of its deposit scam now exceeds Rs. 5 crore. The society, which has already suffered a massive loss of Rs 32 crore, holds 2,152 deposits in total. While over 300 individuals are awaiting repayment, only 115 have so far filed official complaints.

Deepa, the current secretary in-charge of the Society too has been arraigned as an accused in cases connected to the fraud. M S Kumar, the Society president and a BJP leader, along with former secretary S Indu too have been named in these cases.

The first signs of trouble in the bank surfaced last year when depositors, frustrated by the non-return of their matured deposits, filed complaints first with the Cooperative Department and later escalated the issue to the police. Investigations revealed that the scam had been carried out by flouting regulations governing deposit handling.

Besides Kumar, members of the previous council were identified as BJP leader G Manikyam, M Sasidharan, S Gopakumar, K R Sathyachandran, S Ganapathi Potti, G Binu Lal, C S Chandra Prakash, T Deepa, K S Rajeswari, and Chandrika Nair.

Though an election was announced following the expiration of the previous council’s term, no one has come forward to contest, leaving the society under the administration of an appointed official for the time being.

In response to the complaints, a directive has been issued under Cooperative Act 68(1) to recover the embezzled funds from those responsible for the financial fraud. This process involves seizing the assets of the accused members and using them to recoup the lost money. However, this is time-consuming, meaning depositors may not receive their funds immediately.

The Financial Offence Wing of the Crime Branch can only take over the case if the total fraud amount exceeds Rs 5 crore. If this happens, the proceedings will likely accelerate under their purview. At the same time, the authorities will also need to trace the assets of a former member of the society’s administrative council who passed away after taking a Rs 1 crore loan from the bank.

The Cooperative Department, however, is unlikely to provide immediate assistance to the bank. Under current regulations, they can only intervene once the case proceedings are complete. Additionally, the law requires the submission of a financial restructuring package to rescue the struggling bank, which complicates the repayment process for depositors.

At present, authorities are considering repaying depositors based on priority, using the Rs 22 crore due to be raised.