Wed Jan 29 14:15:19 UTC 2025: ## Kerala High Court Orders Swift Probe into ₹260 Crore BSNL Engineers’ Cooperative Society Scam

**Thiruvananthapuram, January 29, 2025** – The Kerala High Court has issued a directive to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to expedite its investigation into a massive financial scam involving the BSNL Engineers’ Cooperative Society (No. T-950). The scam, which allegedly embezzled ₹260 crore from hundreds of depositors, primarily senior citizens aged 65-85, has prompted the court to order the completion of the probe within one year.

Justice Kauser Edappagath’s order, delivered on Monday, follows a petition filed by depositors seeking faster action. The court directed the ED to initiate all necessary legal proceedings under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against the accused. The ED had previously registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) on March 29, 2023, based on a police complaint filed in 2023.

The High Court also considered the plight of the elderly depositors, many of whom had invested their life savings in the society’s deposit schemes. To facilitate their participation in the investigation, the court ordered the ED to conduct camp sittings in Thiruvananthapuram to record witness statements.

The scam, uncovered by an inquiry report, involved the creation of bogus Fixed Deposit receipts and the use of ‘parallel’ registers to orchestrate a serious financial misappropriation. The Vanchiyoor police initially registered a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) concerning criminal breach of trust, cheating, and criminal acts by multiple individuals. The court’s order aims to bring swift justice to the victims of this significant financial fraud.

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