Some PMC Bank depositors detained for bid to hold protest

Mumbai: Around a dozen depositors of the scam-hit Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank were detained on Sunday for allegedly trying to stage a protest outside the Khar residence of HDIL promoters Rakesh Wadhawan and his son Sarang, who are accused in the bank fraud case, police said.

However, they were released after some time, police said.

“Around 12 depositors of the PMC Bank were detained as they tried to hold a protest outside the Wadhawan residence of in Khar here around 3 pm. But they were let off after some time,” senior inspector of Khar Police Station, Gajanan Kabdule, said.

A group of around 25 depositors initially assembled some distance away from the house of the Wadhawans with banners in hands, where they started raising slogans, he added.

“As they started moving towards the Wadhawans’ house, they were stopped by the police. But some of them squatted on the road adjacent to their house, which caused traffic snarls. After that we detained some of them,” the officer said.

The fraud at PMC Bank came to light in September last year after the Reserve Bank of India discovered that the bank had allegedly created fictitious accounts to hide over Rs 4,355 crore of loans extended to almost-bankrupt Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL).

The Bombay High Court had on Wednesday last week directed the superintendent of Arthur Road Jail to shift the Wadhawans father-son duo to their residence under the supervision of two jail guards to ensure their cooperation to a committee that has been formed for valuation and sale of encumbered assets of the HDIL to expeditiously recover dues payable by the firm to PMC bank.

However, a day later, the Supreme Court had partially stayed the HC order.