Amritsar Central Cooperative Bank fraud: Probe reveals senior officials’ involvement

PK Jaiswar

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Tribune News Service

Amritsar, June 5

Senior officials of the Amritsar Central Cooperative Bank and the Audit Department colluded to bungle huge amount of the bank. This is the finding of a three-month long investigation in misappropriation of around Rs 3 crore from the Tarsikka branch of the bank.

The police had registered an FIR under Sections 409 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC on February 19 this year. It booked four persons, including branch manager of the bank, identified as Rakesh Kumar, who was arrested for fraud. Besides Rakesh, the police had nabbed Ram Kishore of Ludhiana also. Two of their accomplices Sukhdev Singh of Sarai village and Sukhbir Singh of Bhatti village (both secretaries of the cooperative societies) were also booked in the case.

Highly placed sources, privy to the investigations, revealed that senior manager, district manager, bank officials, deputy registrars, assistant registrars, inspectors of cooperative societies and officials of audit department colluded and misappropriated huge amount of the bank running into crores.

Investigation found that money was bungled from five societies, including Tarsikka, Saidoke Lehal, Bhattike, Chogwan Sadhpur and Kohala, that fall under the jurisdiction of Tarsikka Cooperative Bank. However, the investigation extended to other branches of the cooperative bank thereby unearthing a major scam. Alarmed over the bungling of huge funds, Punjab Cooperative Minister Sukhjinder Randhawa also ordered another probe by senior officials of the audit department a couple of days ago.

Sources said the police submitted a challan in the local court on May 16 while admitting that a supplementary challan would be submitted after completion of probe.

The sources claimed that ruling party leaders, including a minister, was mounting pressure to hush up the case in order to save certain black sheep. Sources added that the amount bungled in the scam was much higher than anticipated in the initial probe.

However, the police have denied the same. “I have been personally supervising the investigations and I assure all that it is being carried out in very fair and transparent manner. No investigating officer has been changed in the case so far,” said Amritsar (Rural) SSP Vikram Jeet Duggal. “We don’t have any pressure and all the cooperative societies are cooperating with the police department in the probe,” he added.