Court extends custody of three accused in PMC case; Next hearing scheduled by October 14
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Mumbai, October 10: Waking ahead in the PMC bank fraud's judicial proceeding, a Mumbai court on Thursday extended the police custody of three of the accused arrested in the 4,355 crore rupees scam till 14th October.
Chairman and Managing Director of Housing Development Infrastructure Limited, Rakesh Wadhawan and his son Sarang were arrested on October 3, while former chairman of Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank (PMC Bank) Waryam Singh was held on Saturday.
The trio was produced before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate S G Shaikh yesterday where the Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai Police sought more time for interrogation. Besides these three, Mumbai Police have also arrested Joy Thomas, PMC Bank’s former managing director.
Meanwhile distressed PMC customers, who have argued that the revised Rs. 25,000 limit on withdrawals imposed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is still too little, gathered outside the court to protest. Carrying placards that read 'No Bail, Only Jail', they accused the RBI of not taking strict action against the erring officials and appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in the matter.
The problems at the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank came to light after a whistle blower complaint, following which the Reserve Bank of India, on September 23, placed the lender under an administrator. The RBI has also barred the bank from carrying out regular banking activities.
The PMC case has sparked renewed concerns about the health of India's troubled banking sector, which has been rocked by a multi-billion dollar fraud at a state-run lender, the collapse of a major infrastructure lender, bad loan issues at state-run banks and a liquidity squeeze that has hit shadow lenders.