For third time, RBI hikes withdrawals to Rs 40,000 at PMC Bank
Mumbai: For the third time since its punitive actions, the Reserve Bank on Monday increased withdrawal limits at the crippled cooperative PMC Bank to Rs 40,000 from the present Rs 25,000 per account holder.
The move follows the weekend assurance by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to urge the Reserve Bank to look into the woes of the depositors of the cooperative bank with urgency, after irate depositors met her.
Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative Bank, which is among the top 10 urban cooperative banks, was placed under an RBI administrator on September 23 for six months due to massive under-reporting of dud loans. The regulator also capped deposit withdrawals first at Rs 1,000, which was subsequently increased to Rs 10,000 and Rs 25,000.
"The financial position of the bank has been substantially impaired due to fraud perpetrated on it by certain persons. As soon as the matter came to the notice of the Reserve Bank, action was taken in appointing an administrator and ensuring that the bank's available resources are protected and not misused or diverted," the RBI said.
In a press statement, the central bank also said the move to increase the withdrawal cap to Rs 40,000 has been taken "after reviewing the bank's liquidity position and its ability to pay its depositors".
With this move, about 77 percent of the depositors of the bank will be able to withdraw their entire account balance with the increase in the caps, it said.
The RBI said its administrator has appointed forensic auditors to look into the fraudulent transactions.
The administrator, along with a three-member RBI- appointed advisory committee, is working for speedier resolution of the various issues being faced by the bank in conducting its operations, the apex bank said.
It also said the city police's economic offences wing has started investigating the matter.
The police had earlier pegged the scam at nearly Rs 4,500 crore and has already made a slew of arrests in the case, including the promoters of realty company HDIL the Wadhwans, and also the bank's chief executive and managing director Joy Thomas and chairman Waryam Singh who are all behind the bars now.
The bank, over a long period of time, had given over Rs 6,500 crore in loans to HDIL, which is 73 percent of its total advances, and which has turned sour with a shift in the fortunes of the now bankrupt company.
Its total loans stand at Rs 8,880 crore and the deposits at over Rs 11,610 crore. There have been massive protests across city from the depositors following the RBI action.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
