Cong for probe into deposit of old notes

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Friday demanded a time bound probe into deposit of old notes worth over ~745 crore – within five days of demonetisation decision – in a cooperative bank of Gujarat of which BJP chief Amit Shah is a director. The BJP dismissed it as yet another attempt to sensationalise the issue with misguided allegations against its chief. The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, too, came out with a statement denying any irregularities.

A NABARD response to a Mumbai-based RTI activist revealed that Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank (ADCB) secured deposits of ~745.59 crore of the spiked notes — in just five days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the demonetisation announcement. “We expect the prime minister will himself come forward and give answers on the charges against Amit Shah, whom he has appointed. There should be an independent time-bound probe into this entire scam,” Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewala told reporters. NABARD said it conducted 100 % verification in Ahmedabad DCCB, which revealed that the bank had complied with all the KYC guidelines of the RBI while accepting the demonetised notes.

“Of the total 16 lakh accounts with DCCB, deposits/ exchanges were made only by 1.60 lakh customers .... Of the total accounts with the bank, it was only in 0.09% accounts where above ~2.5 lakh were deposited. The average deposit amount in Ahmedabad DCCB was ~46,795 which was lower than average per depositor in 18 DCCBS of Gujarat,” it said in a statement issued in Mumbai.

Union minister Piyush Goyal shared the NABARD statement on twitter and wrote, “Congress is once again trying to sensationalise the issue with misguided allegations against Amit Shah, which clearly shows desperation to deflect public attention from its own misdemeanours. Rightly exposed by NABARD.”