Sahakar Bharati leader from Chhattisgarh Pritpal Belchandan is in the news for all the wrong reasons. An FIR has been filed against him and several others for misappropriating Rs 15 crore in Durg District Central Cooperative Bank. Belchandan is the former chairman of the co-op bank.
The bank’s CEO Pankaj Sodhi’s father Jaipal Singh Sodhi had made a complaint against Belchandan.
Meanwhile, talking to Indian Cooperative Pritpal Belchandan said, “I am not involved in any embezzlement of funds and disbursed loan on the norms set by Nabard. Besides, the government agencies used to do audits of our books and always gave ‘A’ grades to us. It is a political move to defame my image”, he charged saying he is being targeted because he is associated with BJP.
Being a Chairman Belchandan and his team from 5 August 2016 to 12 June 2019 had changed rules for one-time settlement schemes. Going against the rules and providing exemption of over 17 crore in 186 cases which caused financial loss by misusing bank funds, say his detractors.
Earlier, the complaints related to misappropriation of funds in Durg DCCB were submitted to the concerned authorities. As per the collector’s direction an investigation team was formed.
On the order of the Collector, Birendra Bahadur Panchabhai Additional Collector, Vinod Weaver Sub Registrar Cooperative Societies, Ajay Kumar Auditing Officer Sub Registrar Cooperative Societies, AK Singh Co-operative Inspector Sub Registrar Co-operative Societies constituted the joint team and investigated the matter.
Based on the investigation report of the team, an FIR has been registered against Pritpal Belchandan and members of the elected governing board. The police will now take action under the rule. An arrest can also be made. The police department will now investigate further, say media reports.
Belchandan has been a member of the BJP for the past 23 years and has also been elected Chairman of Durg DCCB for four consecutive terms. He was also a member of the BJP National Cooperative Cell and could be seen in meetings held at the BJP headquarters in Delhi.