The Crime Branch on Saturday (July 4) arrested a former Congress leader here in connection with the alleged misappropriation of funds at the Vadakara-based Kadathanad Labour Contract Cooperative Society and the self-immolation of a 71-year-old investor outside the former’s house on May 29.
According to sources, T.V. Sudheer Kumar, former president of the United Democratic Front (UDF)-controlled society, was arrested from Chennamangaloor in Kozhikode district. He had reportedly gone into hiding after switching off his mobile phone following the self-immolation of Ibrahim Haji, a resident of Thiruvallur. Two more functionaries of the society’s board are suspects in the case.
It was reported that Haji had invested ₹22 lakh in the society between July 2021 and June 2023, but his requests to withdraw the money were not accepted. He reached Mr. Sudheer Kumar’s house on May 29, doused himself with petrol, and set himself on fire. Though Haji was rushed to the hospital, he could not be saved. The Congress removed Mr. Sudheer Kumar, who was a functionary of the District Congress Committee (DCC), from all party posts after Haji’s death.
Many more complaints related to alleged financial misappropriation in society came into the open thereafter. The Cooperation department subsequently found that funds to the tune of over ₹2 crore had been misappropriated. Following this, the case was handed over to the Crime Branch. The police had earlier registered two cases, one on Haji’s complaint over the society’s refusal to withdraw funds and another related to his unnatural death.
The incident had also led to a political spat between the Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)]. Party State secretary M.V. Govindan visited Haji’s house after his death and termed the incident “a murder” and the “manifestation of an institutional fraud” operated with Congress support. However, K. Praveenkumar, DCC president, said the society was not directly under the party. At present, the society is controlled by an administrative panel involving local UDF leaders.
Published – July 04, 2026 06:54 pm IST
