The suspect accounts allegedly belong to workers there who make less than Rs 10,000 a month.
Highlights
- Investigators say 8 are Jan Dhan accounts, bank says no
- Accounts had little money, then Rs 6.9 crore poured in
- Locality is dominated by powerful businessmen
The Enforcement Directorate, which is probing several bank accounts in Kolkata, has been taken aback by nine. Officials say 8 of them at United Bank of India's Metiabruz branch are Jan Dhan accounts - their owners are people who earn less than Rs 10,000 a month. The bank, however, has denied the accounts are Jan Dhan accounts.
The accounts normally had little money. Suddenly, nearly 10 days after the government's November 8 announcement on cash ban, Rs 6.9 crore poured in.
One account holder is a 25-year-old woman who was astonished when told her she had Rs 60 lakh in the bank, sources said.
The agency has asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to join the probe to see if the accounts were being used by some powerful businessmen in the area to turn black money into white. Metiabruz has a booming garment industry.
At the United Bank of India foundation day celebrations on Monday, managing director Pawan Bajaj said, "The matter is being investigated. All bank accounts are KYC compliant. We have details of the accounts and branch level investigations are on."
After the accounts came under the ED scanner, the two bank officials have been in and out of ED's office.
The suspect accounts allegedly belong to workers there who make less than Rs 10,000 a month. So, where did Rs 6.9 crore come from?
A pharmacy owner on the ground floor of the bank said, "We have heard the CBI is coming."
Mr Shamshul Ansari, the local Trinamool Congress councillor, says the entire garments industry runs on cash. "Who has black money here? Mr Modi does, with his 10 lakh rupee suit," Mr Ansari thunders.
The bank branch manager told NDTV on phone that the account holders could have some reasonable explanation for the sudden arrival of cash. But Metiabruz is a difficult area. Powerful businessmen, whom locals sometimes call mafia dons, rule the roost and the bank manager may have had no option but to do as they demand.