Why target BoM chief, but no action against Amit Shah, asks Raj Thackeray

Maharashra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray on Tuesday attacked the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena combine for arresting Bank Of Maharashtra (BoM) Chairman and Managing Director Ravindra Marathe but taking no action against BJP chief Amit Shah and other bank officials.

"Why has Marathe been targeted like this but you have no courage to act against Amit Shah?" Thackeray demanded before mediapersons.

He was referring to the arrest of Marathe and other BoM officials in connection with a Rs 2,000 crore plus scam allegedly perpetrated by the DSK Group of Pune and the recent exposes on how the Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank in which Shah is a Director collected the maximum deposits of demonetized Rs 500-Rs 1,000 notes in five days in November 2016.

Calling Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis "a liar", Thackeray said how could be claim he had no knowledge of Marathe's arrest by the Pune police.

He said the public sector BoM chief (Marathe) was being victimized for the bank's refusal to cooperate actively in the farm loans waiver and related issues.

"It is a conspiracy to merge the BoM with the Bank of Baroda. This is what I have heard and it is scary," Thackeray said.

He sought to know that if Marathe can be put behind bars like this, then why the ICICI Bank chief Chanda Kochhar and Punjab National Bank top executives were still roaming freely.

His comments came at a media conference called to denounce a statewide ban on single-use plastic bags imposed by the state government which has caused huge inconvenience to many.

--IANS

qn/mr