There was chaos in the Makhora branch of Baroda UP Gramin Bank located in Parshurampur area of Basti district of Uttar Pradesh when the Anti-Corruption Wing (ACW) of CBI, which came from Lucknow, suddenly raided. This action of CBI was taken in protest against the bribe demanded in the name of releasing the second installment of the loan sanctioned under the Chief Minister Udyami Yojana. After hours of rigorous interrogation and scrutinizing the bank’s documents, CBI arrested branch manager Naveen Singh and took him to Lucknow.
According to the information, Sachin Maurya, a resident of Parashurampur area and a local shopkeeper, had applied for a loan under the Chief Minister Udyami Yojana for self-employment. After the loan was approved, the first installment was received, but the second installment was pending for a long time. It is alleged that bank employee Anil and branch manager Naveen Singh had demanded a bribe of Rs 15,000 in exchange for releasing this installment. Fed up with corruption, Sachin complained about it to CBI Lucknow.
CBI took action after beneficiary’s complaint
When the bank was functioning normally, a team of about half a dozen officers led by CBI officer VK Singh reached the bank premises. As soon as the team reached, the first thing was to close the gate of the bank from inside and took possession of the manager’s cabin. After this, the CBI team, after interrogating the manager, searched the files and after getting confirmation, arrested the manager and took him with them.
CBI scrutinized documents related to government schemes
According to sources, CBI also interrogated the manager about his personal income and current assets. In the last one year, files of all the loans distributed under Mukhyamantri Udyami Yojana and other government schemes were taken into possession and investigated. The bank’s computer system and manager’s mobile phone records were also examined to trace the bribery syndicate.
The level of secrecy during this entire operation was so high that the local Parshurampur police station did not get any information about it. Generally, in any raid, cooperation of the local police is taken, but in this case CBI itself took charge. Only when the team left with the manager in the evening, the news spread in the area.
What did the local police station in-charge say about the CBI raid?
This issue of commission embezzlement in government schemes is not being limited to just one bank manager. In the Chief Minister Udyami Yojana, whose objective is to make the youth self-reliant, this kind of commission has raised questions on the governance. Local people say that it has become impossible to get government loan in the bank without convenience fee. Parshurampur police station in-charge Bhanu Pratap Singh said that the CBI team had come, apart from this he has no information about any action of CBI.
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