Tarun Karthick
Sri Vijaya Puram, 11 November 2025
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has urged the Lt. Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands to appoint senior and experienced officers from public sector banks as the Managing Director and General Manager of the Andaman and Nicobar State Cooperative Bank Ltd. for the next two to three years, citing a severe management crisis and ongoing corruption investigations within the institution.
In a letter addressed to the Lt. Governor, Mr. D. Ayyappan, Secretary of the CPI (M) Andaman & Nicobar State Organising Committee, drew attention to his earlier letters dated March 3 and May 26, 2025, highlighting irregularities in the functioning of the bank. He stated that the A&N Police have registered criminal cases against the bank’s officials, Chairman, Vice Chairman, and some members of the Board of Directors, along with certain businessmen, under charges of criminal conspiracy, fraud, forgery, breach of trust, and corruption. The Enforcement Directorate is also reportedly probing the money trail of loans sanctioned to fake firms and shell companies.
Mr. Ayyappan noted that the Managing Director of the bank is currently in jail, while several top officials are facing criminal and disciplinary proceedings. He emphasized that the bank—one of the oldest financial institutions in the Islands’ cooperative sector with around three lakh account holders, ₹1200 crore in annual business, and over 300 employees—plays a vital role in providing social security pensions to around 15,000 islanders.
The CPI (M) maintained that the bank must be “saved at any cost” and that appointing qualified public sector bank officers at the top level is essential to restore confidence among customers and ensure smooth functioning of the institution.
