Congress demands Karnataka govt to handover probes into co-operative bank scams to CBI

Venkatesh questioned what is stopping the state government to handover SGRSBN and SVCSSL to the CBI. “The minister for co-operatives has handed over a Rs 12 crore misappropriation case of co-operative society to the CBI but not the SGRSBN and SVCSSL scams that run to nearly Rs 2,800 crore. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which is probing the case, doesn’t even have human resource to investigate the case. Is the government trying to shield the defaulters? Let the government release the name of the defaulters,” he said.

Somashekar said that the CID personnel are efficient enough to handle the case and that a competent authority has been appointed to recover the money.

In 2020, RBI had imposed withdrawal restrictions on Sri Guru Raghavendra Sahakara Bank Niyamitha. The probe had revealed that more than 2,500 crore were misappropriated by the bank management. Presently, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is investigating the case. In July 2021, several depositors had filed complaints with Bengaluru city police suspecting misappropriation in SVCSSL and the directors were later arrested by the police.

Opposition leader at the Legislative council B K Hariprasad said, “These scams have affected the common public, especially senior citizens, and some have died by suicide (citing statement made by JD(S) MLC T S Sharavana). The government must help the people who are under severe stress.”