In a major development in the ₹122 crore New India Co-operative Bank scam, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police has arrested an accused named Pawan Jaiswal from Lucknow. According to officials, Jaiswal was taken into custody in Lucknow and will be produced before a local court for a transit remand, after which he will be brought to Mumbai for further investigation.
EOW sources revealed that another accused, Rajeev Ranjan Pandey, who was earlier arrested in the case, had allegedly received ₹15 crore from the scam, out of which ₹4.5 crore was handed over to Jaiswal. The latter, originally from Jharkhand, is reportedly involved in the building material supply business in Lucknow.
The EOW has already submitted a voluminous 12,600-page chargesheet in the case. According to the chargesheet, former bank chairman Hiten Bhanu and his wife Gauri Bhanu, who are prime accused in the case, have been declared absconders. The couple reportedly fled the country, prompting the EOW to invoke Section 335 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) — pertaining to recording evidence in the absence of the accused.
An EOW officer said that despite prolonged efforts, the whereabouts of the Bhanu couple remain unknown. So far, the agency has arrested nine people in connection with the scam, including former bank officials, a developer, and private individuals. Six other suspects have been named as wanted in the investigation.
Among the accused are three internal auditors: Chartered Accountant Abhijit Deshmukh (partner at Sanjay Rane & Associates), Lakshminarayan Venkatesh Nayak of Shinde Nayak & Associates, and Subhash Mogal of SI Mogal & Company. These auditors allegedly failed to raise any red flags during the auditing process of the bank's accounts, despite the massive financial irregularities.
The EOW has recorded statements from 45 witnesses in the case and has frozen assets worth ₹167 crore, believed to be proceeds of the crime. Investigators found that ₹122 crore was siphoned off from the bank’s vaults located at its Prabhadevi and Goregaon offices in Mumbai.
The investigation into the financial scam, which has shaken the co-operative banking sector, is ongoing, and further arrests are likely.