Ex-Congress MP and Ex-Loan Officer Sent to Judicial Custody in Rs 500 Crore Scam
Ex-MP, bank officials jailed in massive loan fraud case.
A Port Blair court delivered a stunning blow today, sending former Congress MP Kuldeep Rai Sharma and ex-loan officer K. Kalaivanan to judicial custody over a colossal Rs 500 crore loan scam at the Andaman and Nicobar State Cooperative Bank Ltd (ANSCBL). The Enforcement Directorate (ED) nabbed the pair on September 18, hauling them to Kolkata for intense eight-day interrogations before returning them to face justice. This marks the ED’s first-ever crackdown in the Union Territory, shaking the idyllic Andaman and Nicobar Islands to their core.
Also remanded was ANSCBL’s managing director, K. Murugan, questioned locally due to health concerns. “We brought Sharma and Kalaivanan back from Kolkata as their ED custody ended today, and all three were remanded to judicial custody,” a senior ED official told PTI. The case exploded after a May 15, 2025, FIR by the Andaman Police’s Crime and Economic Offences Cell targeted bank officials and private individuals for brazen loan irregularities.
Sharma, once ANSCBL’s chairman, was first arrested by local police on July 18 following a whistleblower complaint from the deputy registrar of cooperative societies, alleging rampant loan mismanagement. The ED’s July 31 search operation—their first in the islands—uncovered a sprawling conspiracy. Over Rs 500 crore in fraudulent loans were channeled through more than 100 accounts tied to shell companies and dummy firms. Shockingly, the ED alleges Rs 230 crore was siphoned off to enrich Sharma and his close associates, including Murugan and Kalaivanan.
Also Read: ED Arrests Former Congress MP Kuldeep Rai Sharma in ₹500 crore Fraud
In recent weeks, the ED summoned over 10 individuals to Kolkata for grilling, peeling back layers of a sophisticated fraud network. As the investigation deepens, the arrests signal a relentless push to dismantle the syndicate and recover the looted funds. Sharma’s fall from political grace has sent ripples through the islands, spotlighting vulnerabilities in remote financial systems and raising questions about accountability in high places.
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