Kerala cops arrest BLM co-op society chairman in Chennai for alleged fund diversion

The Kerala Crime Branch Police on Thursday, October 29, arrested R Premkumar, founder chairman of Bharath Lajhna Multi State Cooperative Society, one of the leading co-operative societies in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Premkumar was taken into custody from his residence in Chennai. Crime Branch officials, however, refused to divulge details of the case.  The case is being probed by the Economic Offences Wing of Crime Branch, Kozhikode. A team led by DySP, Crime Branch, EOW, arrested Premkumar. Following the arrest, Premkumar complained of physical discomfort and was shifted to a hospital.  As per reports, funds worth Rs 300 crore were siphoned off to the private accounts of Premkumar. The money collected as deposits from members of the cooperative society was diverted for purchase of resorts and theatres, allegations said.  The case began with the former CEO Naveen S Nair filing a complaint with the Nadakavu police station in Kozhikode against Premkumar and a few others for physically attacking him. He later withdrew the complaint, but the Crime Branch, having found some evidence of misappropriation of funds of the society, went ahead and registered an FIR invoking section 316 (5) (criminal breach of trust) and 318 (2) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita against the accused.  According to reports, the Crime Branch has found misappropriation of funds worth crores from the society to the personal bank accounts of Premkumar and his close relatives. The Crime Branch is learnt to have identified around 320 bank accounts which allegedly belonged to Premkumar and his close relatives.  BLM reportedly has around 150 branches and over 15 lakh members across Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. It was started in Chennai in 2006 as a housing co-operative society with a focus on the development of housing activities.