Kangra Central Cooperative Bank irregularities

In an inquiry being conducted by the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau lot of  financial irregularities and procedural lapses have been detected in loans provided by Kangra Central Cooperative Bank.

The scrutiny of the records revealed that the process for disbursing loans was not followed, property located outside the state was mortgaged for advancing loans, the opinion of the subordinate staff regarding the justification of loans was ignored by the loan committee and properties were mortgaged by inflating the actual value, sources in the vigilance said.

In a special case, property worth Rs 6 lakh was mortgaged for Rs 4 crore loan which turned into NPA while another property in Punjab was mortgaged in violation of bylaws which clearly state that only property within the state can be mortgaged

The Vigilance Bureau has seized the loan records and is examining these to detect the cases in which irregularities are suspected and new Chairman of the bank Rajiv Bharadwaj has said irregularities will be probed and responsibility of erring officials be fixed. The NPAs of the bank have touched Rs 700 crore, which is about 18 per cent, and the probe was initiated by the BJP government after coming to power.