HC turns down anticipatory bail plea of accused again

KAPURTHALA : Even after registering a case against 14 people, including nine bank officials in 2014, in a ₹6-crore loan fraud case, Kapurthala police have failed to arrest any accused so far.

The police had submitted a chargesheet before a local court in May, four years after the registration of an FIR following an inquiry by the crime branch, Mohali.

Police had named 14 people, including SBI officials, branch manager Sonal Gupta, additional manager Dharminder Tiwari, assistant general managers (AGMs) ,Vipan Negi, Aditi Walia and Garima Pritam, Kotak Mahindra Bank sales manager Deepak Bajaj, credit manager Nawal Kishore, direct sales agent Gurinder Bajwa, Axis Bank sales manager Ajay Kumar Gautam, chartered accountant Rajiv Singh, firm partner Sukhwinder Singh and three of his family members. A case was registered against them after Ikaum Impex owner Sonia Bawa of Kapurthala had in her complaint alleged that her partner Sukhwinder Singh, his kin and bank officials had committed the fraud by forging the documents.

During probe, cops had found that the firm’s papers had been tampered with.

Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) on Thursday rejected anticipatory bails of six bank employees for the second time.

In their application, the accused pleaded innocence. They claimed to have merely dealt with files but were not beneficiaries.

They claimed that accused Sukhwinder, his wife Amandeep Kaur and two others were absconding. A red corner notice had been issued for apprehending them. Court observed, petitioners did not meet the parameters required for bail. HTC