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Aggrieved investors of J&K coop bank protest outside Lok Bhavan, seek refund of deposits
The investors, largely pensioners, farmers and senior citizens, have been reportedly duped by the state owned bank of their hard earned money, which they had deposited with the bank.
With no resolution in sight, aggrieved investors of J&K State Cooperative and Rural Agricultural Development Bank, on Thursday, held a protest outside Lok Bhavan and demanded refund of their deposits.
The investors, largely pensioners, farmers and senior citizens, have been reportedly duped by the state owned bank of their hard earned money, which they had deposited with the bank.
From March last year, investors have been demanding that their money be paid back to them
“Our hard earned money has been swindled by this bank. We had invested our money with them. Some among us have to marry their daughters and some have to finance education of their children. It was a government bank, not a private bank. Where we should go?” said Rakesh Gupta, one of the angry protesters, aged 71 years.
During the protest, a strong posse of police force reportedly heckled the old investors.
“We will die here but won’t back down till our money is given back to us,” said another protester, Anil Kumar, aged 63.
“We have been demanding our money since March last year. We also met BJP MLAs but to no avail,” he added.
The protesters demanded that criminal proceedings be initiated against the bank chairman, managing director and other officials.
The protesters wanted a representation to the LG.
In November last year cooperatives minister Javid Ahmad Dar had informed that the license of the bank has been revoked and it has been declared an NPA (Non Performing Asset) under section 11 of the of the Banking Regulation (BR) Act, 1949.
He, however, had assured that the money of the aggrieved bank customers will be returned to them.
At that time a top official of the cooperatives department had also assured that the things would be amicably sorted out in the next 15 to 20 days.
Protesters alleged that approximately ₹200 crore belonging to nearly 15,000 to 20,000 investors have been misappropriated by the bank management.
