PMC Bank customers do sit-ins at branches, HDIL headquarters
A group of irate customers of crisis-hit Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative Bank Thursday held sit-ins at bank headquarters and at various branches, demanding action against its chairman and board members.
A few bank employees and customers also held demonstrations outside the real estate developer Housing Development & Infrastructure's (HDIL) office in Bandra.
The RBI had Tuesday placed the urban cooperative bank under a slew of restrictions for six months after it had found irregularities in disclosures in NPAs.
The main curbs include banning it from extending new loans and capping cash withdrawals at Rs 10,000 per customer, which was increased Thursday by the RBI from Rs 1,000 limit set earlier.
The sit-ins were held at many branches, including at Sion, Antop Hill and the bank's headquarters at Bhandup in the
northeastern suburb.
"We are worried about our money. We need our hard earned money back," said one Manjeet Singh who has an account with the Sion branch.
A set of customers also filed a police complaint against the senior officials of the bank with the Sion police station.
"We have lodged a police complaint against the chairman and directors of the bank. They have cheated us," said one Alok Kumar.
The suspended bank managing director Joy Thomas had admitted that the bank has been facing repayment issues with HDIL and it has become an NPA but did not report to the RBI.
But he was quick to add that HDIL is one of its oldest and the largest customers and is the exposure is fully secured despite the fact that it is in the bankruptcy tribunal now.
Earlier in the day, a group of 14 account-holders went to the Sion police station in central Mumbai and submitted a complaint against bank officials, accusing the PMC chairman and its directors of misappropriation of public funds.
They requested the police to take proper action against those named in their complaint and confiscate their passports, so that they do not leave the country, the police official said.
They also sought an explanation from the bank chairman and directors over misappropriation of funds of the customers, the officer added.
"We have received a written application from account holders of the PMC Bank. Further action will be taken after examining the complaint," the police officer said.
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