Bank officials implicated in DD theft case

The case of a demand draft being stolen and produced for its encashment at the State Bank of India's (SBI) branch at Kolhapur has opened up a can of worms, with an official officer being implicated in the case.

In this case the branch manager managed to unravel the 'modus operandi' and those involved were trapped. A senior officer of the SBI's branch had stolen the demand draft of over Rs 1.34 crore.

It was produced at SBI's Udyamnagar branch in Kolhapur. On inquiry, the said draft was found to have been in the name of the SBI and was given by State Bank of India, Travancore, as remuneration to the Belapur branch for some technical services given by the Belapur branch and the draft was stolen.

The said draft was produced by Shrinavas Hadalgeri, with a request that the amount be credited in the account of one Manik Jadhav.

They were arrested when they came to withdraw the amount. Police rushed to Mumbai to verify whether there is a racket of such dealings and the main person involved in the racket, if any.

Anil Dinanath Thakur, a senior assistant officer in the SBI's Belapur branch is alleged to have stolen the draft and handed it over to one Sanjay Kaluram Patil, 36, residing in Navi Mumbai.

Both are arrested by police as their involvement in the demand draft was confirmed by the police. Sanjay Patil is alleged to have handed over the draft to the other accused, who came to Kolhapur.

The accused Manik Jadhav's alleged involvement is however a matter of curiosity. She is one of the directors of the Kolhapur Janata Co-operative Bank (KJCB).

However, she owes Rs 72 lakh borrowed in her husband's name and the KJCB had only a few days earlier attached the mortgaged building and the commercial complex for non-payment of the loan.