Pune: A court today remanded 14 persons, including the founder and former Chairman of the city based Survarna Sahakari Bank charged with a fraud to the tune of Rs 437 crore, to judicial custody here.

The court rejected the prosecution's plea for further extension of police custody of Dynaneshwar Agashe, wife Rekha and son Ashutosh along with other accused, most of them directors of the cooperative bank, who were arrested by the economic wing of Pune police on November 22.

The 14 persons have been accused of violating RBI norms and advancing huge amounts of loans selectively without proper guarantees.

The big chunk of middle class depositors of the bank received a jolt when the scam came to light in 2006 and it was put under moratorium with the appointment of an administrator.

The aggrieved depositors, who have now been given permission to withdraw limited amounts of money, have formed an action committee to safeguard their interests and are demanding the crisis ridden bank's merger with a nationalized bank.

The RBI is reportedly studying viability of a proposal put forward by Indian Overseas Bank in this regard.
Source : PTI