One person alone cannot do this, there are others involved in scam: Suspended PNB official
Darpan News Desk IANS, 05 Dec, 2022 11:34 AM
Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 5 (IANS) A suspended Punjab National Bank (PNB) official, presently on the run after a multi-crore fraud surfaced, in his anticipatory bail plea filed before a lower court in Kozhikode on Monday said one person alone cannot do this and a comprehensive probe should be launched.
The fraud has been detected at the Railway Station Link Road branch of PNB.
The scam surfaced on November 29 when the Kozhikode Corporation which has multiple accounts with the PNB realised that crores of rupees have been swindled from its accounts. It became apparent when M.P. Rijin, a top PNB bank official at Kozhikode, went on the run and has not been traced till now.
After a preliminary probe by the Crime Branch, the prosecution informed the court that around Rs 21 crores is missing, of which the Corporation alone has lost around Rs 10 crores.
The court was hearing Rijin's anticipatory bail plea and in his affidavit it was alleged that there is a big conspiracy behind this swindle.
He pointed out that all this just cannot be done by one person and the involvement of officials from the PNB and the Corporation should also be looked into.
He said that just one person alone cannot withdraw money as there is a three layer checking process in the bank.
The court posted the next hearing on the bail plea for Thursday.
The Corporation is ruled by the CPI-M and the party secretary P. Mohanan said things are going from bad to worse and every last rupee of the Corporation which has been swindled has to be given back. If it is not done they will launch a massive protest and if need be, they will not allow the PNB to function.
The contractor paid Rs 3.5 lakh through Sanjeev Vats, a Superintendent-level official posted as secretary to the officer, who was heading the Water Supply and Sewerage Board, on January 12.
Till now, he has been questioned for about 40 hours by the anti-money laundering agency, including on Monday. Gandhi was reportedly questioned about a few transactions made by Kolkata-based Dotex Merchandise Pvt Ltd.
Among the victims are a veterinarian and his brother, a school teacher, their spouses and children, whose 9 bodies were recovered from their respective homes.
Puri also participated in the last rites of Savinder Singh held at Gurudwara Guru Arjan Dev ji in Tilak Nagar on Monday. He offered his deepest condolences to the family and the Afghan Sikh community living in India.
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The two accused shooters, identified as Priyavrat alias Fauji (26), a resident of Sonipat in Haryana, and Kashish alias Kuldeep (24), a resident of Jhajjar in Haryana, were arrested from Kutch district in Gujarat on Sunday.
