PNB scam: Barmer branch manager booked

Continuing the crackdown on all suspects in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) - Nirav Modi fraud case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday filed a case against the branch manager of the bank's Barmer branch in Rajasthan.

The accused, Inder Chand Chundawat, allegedly transferred a number of government schemes worth Rs 1.57 crore and Mudra loans worth Rs 62 lakh to private accounts.

The investigative agency filed two FIRs in this connection.

A total of five PNB officials have been arrested in the case, so far, including a General Manager (GM) rank officer of the PNB, Rajesh Jindal.

For those unversed, the PNB detected a 1.77 billion dollar (Rs 11,400) scam, in which jeweller Nirav Modi acquired fraudulent letters of undertaking from one of its branches for overseas credit from other Indian lenders.

The scam started in 2011 and was detected in the third week of January this year, after which the PNB officials reported it to the concerned agencies.

Security agencies have been cracking down on the properties of Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, but have been clueless about their whereabouts ever since the scam unfolded.