Co-Operative Bank News

ED conducts first-ever raid in Andamans in Rs 200 cr coop bank scam

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In a first-of-its-kind operation in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided nine locations in Port Blair and two in Kolkata in a money laundering probe linked to the Andaman Nicobar State Cooperative (ANSC) Bank.

The case involves alleged misappropriation of over Rs 200 crore, with former Congress MP and current vice-chairman of ANSC Bank, Kuldeep Rai Sharma, identified as the prime accused. Sharma was arrested by local police on July 18 for issuing fraudulent loans to shell companies and laundering the proceeds.

A total of eight arrests have been made so far. The ED suspects Sharma facilitated loans through 15 shell entities created for personal gain. A special court extended his police custody on July 29, and the ED may seek further custody to trace and seize assets acquired using the suspected illicit funds under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

Government unveils new cooperative policy to cover 500 million people

The Centre has introduced a new National Cooperative Policy-its first update since 2002-with the goal of expanding cooperative membership to 500 million people from the current 300 million. Announced by Union Minister Amit Shah, the policy aims to boost the sector's contribution to the economy over the next decade by increasing the number of cooperative societies by 30%, from 830,000 to over a million.

It mandates each village to host at least one cooperative and each tehsil to have five model cooperative villages. The policy also stresses autonomous functioning, free and fair elections, and democratic control of cooperatives.