Traders seek action against Suraj Corporation

The Federation of Surat Textile Traders Association (FOSTTA), on Tuesday, made representations to the District Collector, Pankaj Joshi, and Commissioner of Police, Vineet Kumar Gupta, seeking strict action against Suraj Corporation, the money lending firm, that downed it's shutters as it went weak after lending money to The Century Co-operative Bank.

Gupta assured the federation office bearers that the police would take strict action against the firm owners, but asked the Federation to lodge a police complaint first.

The Federation president Mahendra Saluja, said, "We are supposed to meet Surajmal and Hari Malpani, the two main partners of Suraj Corporation, this evening. We are hopeful of reaching an amicable settlement during the meeting. If no headway is achieved, we will lodge a police complaint either tonight or tomorrow morning."

The Century Co-operative Bank was suspended from clearing house operations on September 1 as it failed to meet the clearing house requirements for the day.

Century Bank, however, allowed depositors to withdraw their money from the bank. For this, the bank borrowed money from Suraj Corporation.

The firm gave away Rs 2.50 crore to the bank to bail it out of trouble, but in the process got its financial position in a mess. As a result, the firm downed it's shutters on September 4.

According to industry sources, approximately Rs 35-40 crore, belonging to the local business community, are stuck in the firm. After the owners expressed their inability to repay money to the creditors, the FOSTTA had called for a boycott of Suraj Corporation.