Depositors damage Diamond Bank car

Depositors of Diamond Jubilee Co-operative Bank damaged a car belonging to the bank on Friday and shouted slogans against loan defaulters, police said.

The depositors were waiting outside the bank's main branch in Salabatpura when around 1:00 pm, the bank manager arrived there in a car. The crowd had an altercation with the manger and the people pelted stones on the car, police said.

The manager escaped unhurt, but the car was badly damaged.

A police team led by Salabatpura police inspector B V Ramani brought the situation under control. The people stopped stone-pelting and shouted slogans against the bank manager and loan defaulters.

Ramani said, "The incident took place as the depositors gave vent to their anger. We have not registered any case as the bank manager did not want to lodge a complaint."

Diamond Jubilee Bank went bust in August 2002 allegedly due to indiscriminate granting of loans by the bank authorities.

The licence of the bank was terminated on July 19 by the RBI, which has decided to take the bank into liquidation.

Bharuch district co-operatives registrar R S Asodia has been appointed the bank's liquidator.

Neither the depositors nor the bank's retrenched employees have received their monies so far.

A recent meeting of the bank's liquidator Asodia with the bank employees to discuss payment of dues had ended without any breakthrough.

Asodia reportedly told the employees that the government dues would be recovered from the bank first, only after which they would be paid their dues.

The employees, however, demanded that their dues of about Rs 8 crore should be cleared first. The employees also quoted a ruling of the Supreme Court in support of their demand, but to no avail.