Bengaluru: Rejecting a petition by two IndusInd Bank officials seeking quashing of an FIR in a cheating case in which they were not named but summoned by cops for questioning, Karnataka high court recently directed Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to investigate the case.Branch head Debopratim Dutta and zonal credit manager Rambabu CM, both from IndusInd Bank, NTTF circle, Peenya, had contended that police summoned them in a cheating case and, while issuing notice to them, had not attached a copy of the FIR. Therefore, the FIR must be quashed, they contended.In the last week of July, Bengaluru resident Jagadish filed a complaint with Peenya police accusing one Nagesh of duping him of Rs 1.5 crore. “Nagesh made me deposit Rs 1.5 crore in the bank, stating he will return the cash with some gold as profit. After the deposit, bank officials told me Nagesh’s account became inactive for some reason. Later, I realised Nagesh had duped me,” Jagadish stated in his complaint.However, cops uncovered a bigger racket in which fake gold ornaments were pledged for bank loans. Peenya police arrested three persons, including Nagesh and gold appraiser AP Jagadish.“One of the petitioners is the zonal credit manager, who is in charge of disbursement of loan against gold deposits. The gold deposits were fake and several crores of rupees were advanced as loans. Following an inquiry, it transpired that the branch head and zonal credit manager caught hold of gullible persons who wanted gold at a lesser price. The complainant (Jagadish) transferred Rs 1.5 crore into an account of a defaulter, Nagesh, who had taken loan against the gold that was pledged in the bank. The gold is alleged to be fake,” argued special public prosecutor BN Jagadeesha.Directing a CID inquiry, Justice M Nagaprasanna observed, “While procedural aberration might have crept in by not enclosing copy of FIR, that would not mask or take away the tenor of the allegations.” The court handed over the probe to the CID.”
