PMC bank scam: Ex-BJP MLA's son arrested

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police has arrested the son of former BJP MLA Sardar Tara Singh in connection with the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank scam. Rajneet Singh, a former director of the bank, was arrested on Saturday for his alleged involvement in the scam as has been established in the investigation so far. He will be produced in court on Sunday.Rajneet, a former director of the bank, is also a member of the bank's loan recovery committee. He was interrogated about the loan given to the HDIL group of companies. He was also questioned about their long-pending dues and the efforts made to recover them.

According to the investigating officers, the answers given by Rajneet were unsatisfactory and unconvincing.

The investigation established Rajneet's active involvement in the offence, following which he was arrested on Saturday evening, the officers said.

Rajneet is the ninth person to be arrested in the case so far. The EOW has already arrested the promoters of HDIL and top PMC bank officials in connection with the scam.

The EOW had earlier told a sessions court that prima facie a nexus between some of the accused and HDIL group companies has been made out by the investigators who suspected a "deep-rooted conspiracy". Six people had died due to loss of money, it had said.

Earlier this week, three auditors were arrested. Last Tuesday, the EOW arrested a woman auditor, Anita Kirdat, in connection with the scam and the previous day, two statutory auditors, Jayesh Sanghani and Ketan Lakdawala were arrested.

The Reserve Bank of India had capped cash withdrawals after the scam surfaced. Some PMC bank officials are accused of colluding with the private firm HDIL to disburse loans fraudulently, which ultimately caused a loss of Rs 4,355 crore to the lender, leaving depositors unable to withdraw cash and in danger of losing their savings. The RBI then put restrictions on the bank and currently, depositors are permitted to withdraw a maximum of Rs 50,000 from the bank over six months.

Tara Singh had served as the MLA from Mulund constituency in Mumbai.