Five months on, victims of co-op society scams still await justice

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, October 23

Five months after the cooperative society scam had been reported from Loharan in Bhogpur, victims who lost the huge amount of money in the scam are still awaiting justice.

The complainants who had approached the rural police five months ago said even after five months, they were waiting for their hard-earned money they had lost due to the scam. They said if not given justice, they would approach higher officials.

Not only this, while the Cooperative Department was yet to resolve the case of Rs 70-lakh Loharan multipurpose cooperative society scam at Bhogpur, another society from Bhogpur, the Cooperative Agricultural Society Pachranga had been hit by a whopping Rs 85-lakh scam.

The secretary of the Cooperative Agricultural Society Pachranga, who is accused of committing the huge scam, had recently got posted at Loharan multipurpose cooperative society.

One of the officials from the Cooperative Department said the accused secretary was posted at the Loharan society to look into the accounts and records properly, which were embezzled by the former secretary, who is now lodged in the jail.

After joining the post at the society in Loharan, the accused fled after which the scam came to the fore in the Pachranga society where he was originally posted. The officials said the accused issued the statements of the FDs without depositing the money in the accounts.

The complainants and the sufferers from Loharan now pay daily visits to the cooperative department in hope of getting some help.

Deputy Registrar (DR) Sukha Singh had said the scam was huge, but the exact amount would be known after proper checking and audit. “We will call for an FIR after investigating the matter properly,” the DR said.

“We are left to visit the offices and request the officials to hasten the process of audit so that we get our lost money back. Now, this new scam has come to the fore and the residents of Pachranga are suffering too,” said one of the residents of Loharan village, who is also the victim of the scam.

Loharan society scam

The victims said they had deposited different amounts on various occasions with the society in the savings account, loans and FDR accounts. They also said the FDRs and other receipts were issued, but when some of them contacted the society, they found that the receipts were fictitious and amounts were never deposited in their bank accounts.

“An inquiry is being conducted and it has been found that the accused had not maintained the records properly. A misappropriation of Rs 67 lakh has been suspected, but it will be confirmed after the audit team completes the probe,” said one of the investigating officers.