BENGALURU: Stressing that there was no question of protecting anyone involved in irregularities in the Sri Guru Raghavendra Cooperative Bank in Bengaluru, Cooperation Minister ST Somashekar on Tuesday informed the Legislative Council that stern action will be taken against the guilty.
Responding to Congress MLC UB Venkatesh’s demand for a CBI probe and attachment of properties of those involved in large-scale irregularities, the minister said the High Court and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are directly monitoring the developments, and the government will take all measures to protect depositors’ interests.
The minister said cases have been registered against those involved in it, a re-audit of the accounts is being done and measures are being taken to refund the depositors. Those who had audited the bank accounts have been blacklisted and the CID is investigating it. “We have taken it seriously as many poor people have invested money,” he added.
Leader of Opposition in the Council S R Patil pointed out that the bank’s board of directors have taken loans violating RBI guidelines. Money was given without even loan applications and the loss was to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore, he said.