Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Feb 2: Police has put five people under scanner in the Kisan Credit Card scam of Ellaquai Dehati Bank, Branch Pulwama while Police have formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the fraud.
Sources said that 5 people including former Branch Manager of the Ellaquai Dehati Bank, Branch Pulwama and a clerk are under police scanner and as per the primary investigations are allegedly involved in the scam.
SSP Pulwama, Tejinder Singh told a press conference that they have constituted the SIT to investigate KCC loan fraud in a local bank branch that surfaced last month.
Singh said that 23 KCC loan cases from the bank have so far been found to be sanctioned without the knowledge of the account holders.
The SSP said that last month a woman resident of Pathan, Pulwama approached police station Pulwama with a report that the Ellaquai Dehati Bank, Branch Pulwama had served her a notice for non-payment of KCC Loan that she has neither applied for nor availed.
“Pulwama police registered a case FIR No. 20/2015 under Sections 419,420,467,468,471 RPC in this regard. Keeping in view the sensitivity of the case a SIT under the supervision of DySP (Hqrs) Pulwama was constituted and the investigation of the case was started”, Singh said.
“The SIT while perusing the records of the bank called in all the non-performing beneficiaries of KCC loans issued by the Bank Branch during the year 2013-14. 97 non-performing KCC loan accounts beneficiaries were summoned to appear before the investigating team to find out the facts.
Out of 97 non-performing accounts, so far 57 beneficiaries have reported before the SIT and among them 23 beneficiaries revealed that they have never applied for such loan in the said Bank Branch. It surfaced further that some of the anonymous (Benami) accounts were also existing in the Bank Branch”, the SSP said.
Singh said that the investigation of the case is going on and police expects a significant breakthrough in coming days.
The Kisan Credit Card Scheme is aimed at providing need based and timely credit support to the farmers for their cultivation needs as well as non-farm activities and cost effective manner.
Under the scheme, banks issued Kisan Credit Cards to the farmers who are otherwise eligible for sanction of short term credit for crop production, allied activities and other non-farm activities.
The farmers under the scheme are issued a credit card-cum-passbook incorporating the name, address, particulars of land holding, borrowing limit / sub-limits, validity period to facilitate recording of the transactions on an on-going basis.
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