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.
Earlier on Tuesday, a Delhi court allowed Delhi Police to conduct a narco test on Aaftab on December 1 and 5, after hearing an application moved by the police on this count. Aaftab, during interrogation, was deceptive in nature and tried to mislead the interrogators.
Notably, the drive against glorification of weapons had been launched on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to curb this trend. Under this drive, verification of licensed weapons are being carried out, besides verifying addresses of licensees.
According to the police, the murder occurred on May 30 and so far, six body parts have been recovered while a search is underway for the missing remains. The accused have been identified as Poonam and her son Deepak. Sources said that after chopping Anjan Das's body, the duo had stored the body parts in their fridge and started gradually disposing them.
According to the official, the victim Sanjay Yadav has a property dispute with one Ramesh Yadav in the village Barihari under Chakia police station in the district. The neighbours rushed them to the primary health centre in Chakia where the woman succumbed to her injuries.
In a video doing rounds on social media, the men could be seen chasing the van carrying Aaftab and managing to open the van's rear door to find a policeman standing inside, in an apparent attempt to attack Aaftab.
According to Delhi Fire Service (DFS) Director Atul Garg, a call regarding fire at a shop was received around 9.20 p.m. on Thursday. "The fire was in the shop no 1868, near Gurudwara, in the Bhagirath Palace Market. So far 40 fire tenders have been rushed to the site and no causality has been reported," he said.
