Diamond Jubilee Bank depositors stage dharna

Hundreds of depositors of Diamond Jubilee Co-operative Bank, which is lying closed since August 2002, staged a dharna outside the district collectorate on Monday.

They also appealed to collector Pankaj Joshi to take steps for early payment of their dues.

A large number of people, whose deposits are under Rs 1 lakh, had gathered outside the bank's main branch in Salabatpura to collect claim forms. The depositors have to get back their monies from the Insurance Credit Guarantee Corporation.

The depositors were, however, shocked to learn that the bank was not open. The depositors straight-away went to the collectorate and staged dharna, shouting slogans.

The depositors told Joshi that R S Asodia, the bank's liquidator, was not meeting them. Following this, the collector had a talk with Asodia.

Asodia told the collector that the money of those who have deposits under Rs 1 lakh was safe and they would be repaid at the earliest.

Asodia also assured that he would meet the depositors on Thursday.

Joshi said, "The depositors mainly wanted to know the status of the proceedings undertaken so far for repayment of their dues and how long it would take before they receive their monies. Asodia is in Gandhinagar for some official work and will meet the depositors on Thursday, after which a clear picture should emerge."

Diamond Jubilee Bank has about 85,000 depositors. The total deposits are about Rs 108 crore. The bank went bust allegedly due to indiscriminate granting of loans.