In a major development in the Rs122 crore scam at New India Cooperative Bank, the lie detector test of the bank’s General Manager and prime accused, Hitesh Pravinchandra Mehta, has come out negative. The test was conducted on Tuesday at the Forensic Science Laboratory in Kalina. Following this, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) will now have to re-investigate the case based on available evidence. Sources indicate that the police are dissatisfied with the outcome of the first polygraph test.
In the second week of February, a case was registered at Dadar Police Station regarding the Rs122 crore financial scam in New India Cooperative Bank. The case was later transferred to the Economic Offences Wing for further investigation. Soon after, the police arrested five individuals, including General Manager Mehta, developer Dharmesh Paun, former CEO of the bank Abhimanyu Bhon, Arunachalam Ullahnathan Maruthuvar alias Arunbhai, and Manohar Arunachalam.
During the investigation, the accused provided inconsistent statements about the financial transactions involved in the scam. They blamed each other, leading to confusion among the police regarding the flow of funds. To get clarity, the police decided to conduct a lie detector test on Hitesh Mehta.
After completing all legal formalities, the Economic Offences Wing approached the Court for permission to conduct a polygraph test on Mehta. The court granted approval, following which Mehta was taken into custody from jail and brought to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Kalina on March 11 for the test.
The three-hour-long test included a total of 50 questions prepared by the investigating officers. Mehta was questioned about when and how the scam was executed, who assisted him, how the embezzled money was distributed, and to whom and when he transferred funds.
The police have now received the test report, which has turned out to be negative. As a result, the investigators will have to rework their strategy based on the available evidence and seized documents. The police will now focus on other means to establish Mehta’s role in the scam and trace the missing funds.