A local court today sentenced a former cashier of a co-operative bank in the district to four years of rigorous imprisonment for siphoning off Rs 5.65 lakh from the bank's coffers for personal use.
Thane Chief Judicial Magistrate R M Kulkarni, who awarded the sentence to Arun Salve (60) yesterday, also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on him.
The accused was posted as a cashier at the Ghansoli branch of Thane District Central Co-operative Bank between May 1998 and September 1998, during which period, he swindled the money and used it for his personal use, Assistant Public Prosecutor Eknath B Dhamal told the court.
The prosecutor said the accused misappropriated a total sum of Rs 5.65 lakh during this period.
"Based on a complaint filed by the then bank manager, an offence was registered against Salve who was subsequently arrested and tried. During his trial as many as 11 witnesses were examined by the prosecution," Dhamal said.
The court was told that it was on September 26, 1998 when the bank had opened for the day's operations, the manager noticed the customers to be standing before the cash counter shouting at the cashier. Although they wanted cash, the accused was repeatedly telling them that there was no cash in the bank.
After this, the manager got suspicious as there was sufficient cash given to the cashier for daily transactions, although he was not making any payment.
Following an inquiry, it came to light that Salve, who was in dire need of cash, had kept the bank money with himself. The bank auditor and manager later found that cash of Rs 5,65,000 had gone missing from the treasury.
The magistrate sentenced the accused under IPC section 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent) of IPC and also asked him that within two months he should return the sum of Rs 5.65 to the bank with 10 per cent interest from the date of crime.
