Bengaluru: Raghavendra Bank fraud victims demand CBI probe

Bengaluru: The depositors of Sri Guru Raghavendra Sahakara Bank in Bengaluru have demanded a CBI probe as their money is stuck in the co-operative bank after the RBI restricted the bank from doing business over irregular transactions.

The depositors now demand a national-level enquiry into the matter by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as they say that Karnataka CID, which is currently investigating the matter, doesn’t have the bandwidth to deal with the issue.

The lender’s customers have been carrying out protests but the issue remains stuck for over a year.

Recently, they started a social media campaign to urge politicians to take remedial action. The depositors highlighted their deteriorating financial and health conditions and how the SGRS Bank has cheated them of their hard-earned money.

Ranganath, a depositor, and a retired RBI official said, “Due to negligence of RBI, RCS over the last 20 years, the fraud was going on.”

In September 2020, the ED attached properties worth Rs 45.32 crore of various key management personnel of the bank on allegations that they had diverted the bank’s funds. The attachments were made under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002.