New Delhi: Daljit Singh Bal, one of the prime accused of the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank Scam was arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police on Thursday in Bihar, said officials.
In 2019, the lookout circular (LOC) was issued against Daljit by the Mumbai police. He is one of the main accused of alleged involvement in the Rs 4500 crore scam.
It is being told that 200 meters before entering Nepal, the immigration department took Daljit into custody. The Immigration Department has informed EOW. At present, Daljit was kept in Raxaul police station. If sources are to be believed, the EOW team has reached Patna.
in September 2019, the multi-crore scam came to light after it was discovered that the co-operative bank had allegedly created fictitious accounts to hide over Rs 6,700 crore in loans extended to the almost-bankrupt HDIL.
Diljeet helped clear loans to HDIL, leading to the crisis in the bank, according to the investigations initiated by the ED in 2019.
The EOW was constantly searching for the main accused Daljit. He was continuously absconding by dodging the investigating agency. It has been learned during interrogation that like Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya, Daljit was in the process of leaving the country and fleeing to Canada via Nepal. From Maharashtra, he reached the Raxaul border very easily, but he was captured before entering Nepal, according to the official's statement to PTI.
What Is PMC Bank Scam?
On 24 September 2019, lakhs of customers of Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank got information that the Reserve Bank has taken control of PMCB for six months. This simply meant that the management and operation of the bank would be in the hands of the Reserve Bank of India for six months.
The meaning of this control was that the withdrawal of deposits, loans, etc. from the bank would be decided by the central bank only. On knowing this, the account holders started reaching the nearest branches. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank had limited the limit of withdrawing cash from the bank to one thousand rupees. For the convenience of the panicked account holders, soon the Reserve Bank had increased the withdrawal limit to Rs 10,000 and then Rs 25,000.