EOW filed case without probe, says RDCC manager

Police deny allegations, say preliminary inquiry carried out

The manager of the head office of the Raigad District Central Cooperative (RDCC) Bank has claimed that the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Navi Mumbai Police registered a case against the bank without any primary enquiry into allegations by a customer that ₹1.1 crore had been deposited into his account from unknown sources.

EOW officers, however, have refuted the bank’s allegation. Senior police inspector Raju Sonawane, Unit II, said the case was registered only after a preliminary inquiry was conducted.

According to Pradeep Naik, manager at the RDCC bank head office in Alibaug, the assistant registrar’s order in the initial proceedings against the complainant, Shivraj Bhosale, shows that his claims are false. “If the police had conducted a preliminary inquiry, we could have shown them the order copy. Mr. Bhosale had taken a loan of ₹1.50 crore agricultural loan and defaulted on the payment. A case under Section 101 of Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act was initiated against him to recover the money,” he said.

Past events

Mr. Naik said Mr. Bhosale had made the same claims as in his FIR during the proceedings, which the court of the assistant registrar had rejected. “This month, we sent a notice of attachment of property to him. If he had issues with the order, he could have appealed to the joint registrar. But for that, he would have had to deposit 50% of the loan amount as per the rules. Hence, he found an easy way out to make us feel threatened.”

Mr. Naik further said, “Removing money from a person’s account can be corruption, not depositing it. His account has credit entries from various banks, not just us. The RTGS and NEFT transactions were done by him.”

Complainant’s stand

Mr. Bhosale claims that he has documents to prove that there has been forgery and transfer of around ₹1.1 crore into his account through different sources. “During the proceedings before the assistant registrar, I asked the bank to reveal the sources of this money, but the bank did not give an answer. I will soon appeal to the joint registrar,” he said.

Mr. Bhosale demanded an independent inquiry from Raigad Guardian Minister Ravindra Chavan.