PURI: Fishermen from Puri’s Chandrabhaga, Konark and Penthakata have alleged of being victimised by fraudsters for a loan of Rs 48 crore which they had not taken but was now on them. According to the fishermen, some unscrupulous persons on the pretext of providing them with bank loans had collected their Aadhaar cards, bank passbook copy and other documents.
The matter came to light after 412 fishermen of Chandrabhaga and around 700 from Puri were served notices by Canara Bank, UCO Bank, State Bank of India (SBI) and Gramya Bank to repay an outstanding loan amount of around Rs 8 crore and Rs 40 crore respectively. The innocent fishermen did not pay heed to the notices earlier but later on their bank accounts were blocked and they were threatened of not being able to initiate recovery proceedings, G Apana and G Gangana of Chandrabhaga and H Narayan and Suree of Penthakata fishermen colony said.
“We submitted a memorandum to the Collector, Marine Fisheries Officer and Vigilance department in this regard, requesting a thorough probe into the matter. We also filed complaints with Chief Minister, Vigilance, Director of Marine Fishery, State Crime Branch to unearth the racket but no action has been taken so far,” lamented a fishermen leader.
They alleged that subsidised fishing equipment like boats, engines and fishing nets were being fraudulently siphoned to other states by some people, adding that boat engines which were meant for fishermen of Odisha were secretly transported to Andhra Pradesh by the dealers. On July 26, the enforcement squad of Commercial Taxes, Puri seized nine boat engines which were being transported outside the district.
Enforcement Officer S Patra said, “Our team intercepted a truck at Sukal check gate along Jagannath road on July 26. As the driver was unable to produce any document, we detained the truck with nine engines. We have registered a case of attempt to evade GST and issued notice to the driver and recorded his statement on the matter. In case he fails to produce relevant documents, we shall take action accordingly.”
While the District Fisheries Officer Prakash Chandra Nayak said he had intimated the fishermen’s demand to senior officials, DSP, Vigilance HN Pati said he has no knowledge of such petition.