Mumbai court sends New India Co-operative Bank accused to five-day police custody

Hitesh Mehta, General Manager and Head of Accounts at New India Cooperative Bank, after being arrested by the EOW, in Mumbai, on February 15, 2025
| Photo Credit: PTI

The Chief Judicial Magistrate court in Mumbai sent the former general manager of New India Co-operative Bank to five-day police custody during a holiday court proceedings on Sunday (February 16, 2025) for allegedly siphoning off ₹122 crore from the bank.

The first accused Hitesh Pravinchandra Mehta, 57, conspired with another unknown person to embezzle ₹122 crore in cash from the safe deposit box of the Mumbai-based New India Co-operative Bank. Of the total amount, ₹70 crore was found in the possession of Dharmesh Jayantilal Paun, a builder. Mr. Paun had received ₹1.75 crore from Mr. Mehta between May and December 2024 and ₹50 lakh in January 2025, said the police. Unnathan Arunachalam alias Arunbhai is a wanted accused in the case, the police said.

“The amount involved in the said crime is the deposit amount of the general public and as a large number of people have been affected due to the act of the accused, the said crime is of a serious nature, so the crime should be thoroughly investigated,” the police said in the remand application.

Mr. Mehta was being evasive to questions about the embezzled amount, however, his involvement in the crime was established, the police added.

While seeking remand of the accused, the police also said further investigation was necessary to find out the people who helped him in actively embezzling the cash from the Goregaon and Prabhadevi branch offices of the bank.

A case under Sections 316(5) (criminal breach of trust by public servants, bankers, and others in positions of trust) and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) was registered in the early hours of Saturday based on a complaint from the Acting Chief Accounting Officer of the bank, Devarshi Shishirkumar Ghosh.

Advocates representing the accused told the media that the crimes were falsely implicated and that more investigation needs to be done.

The arrest follows the RBI restrictions on the bank’s operations due to a lack of liquidity. The central bank further superseded the board and appointed a three-member committee to administer the entity for 12 months. The banking regulator had also directed the co-operative bank to not allow customers to withdraw money and assured them that the deposits would be insured up to ₹5 lakh. The news of the curbs led to a bank run in some of the branches in Mumbai.