Anandrao Adsul Sank City Cooperative Bank: Kirit Somaiya
Moneylife Digital Team 28 September 2021
Bharatiya Janata Paty (BJP) leader and former member of Parliament (MP) Kirit Somaiya has welcomed the arrest of Shiv Sena's five-time MP and former union minister Anandrao Adsul, in the City Cooperative Bank Ltd scam worth Rs900 crore. 
 
Mr Somaiya said, "Anandrao Adsul sank City Cooperative Bank and thousands of small depositors lost crores of rupees. Uddhav Thackeray (chief minister, Maharashtra) has not taken any action for investors (of the bank).
 
Even after the ED sent several summons, the obstruction was not going away. Therefore, Mr Adsul has been arrested. I welcome this action on behalf of small investors." 
 
Speaking with reporters in Pune, Mr Somaiya said, "I am a little fearful. Earlier, when I used to unearth scams of ministers from the Maha-Vikas-Aaghadi (MVA) government, the concerned ministers and leaders used to disappear. I unearthed a scam against Maharashtra minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Hasan Mushrif, and he got himself admitted to a hospital. Similarly, I unearthed a scam of Mr Adsul, but he also went and got admitted in a hospital."
 
Earlier, on Monday, the ED raided the home of Mr Adsul and his son Abhijit in connection with a complaint of an alleged Rs900 crore scam in the Mumbai-based City Cooperative Bank.
 
The former MP from Amravati and Buldhana Lok Sabha constituencies, Mr Adsul is the chairman, while Abhijit Adsul is a director in the Mumbai-based bank.
 
The ED had summoned the duo for questioning on Monday following a complaint lodged by Ravi Rana, an independent member of legislative assembly (MLA) from Badnera and husband of actor Navnit Kaur Rana, who is an independent MP from Amravati.
 
In the complaint, the MLA has accused the Adsuls of alleged misappropriation of the City Cooperative Bank's depositors' funds to the tune of Rs900 crore - a charge stoutly denied by the father-son duo.
 
Incidentally, Mr Adsul had questioned the election of Navnit Kaur Rana because her caste certificate was fake. After the Bombay High Court struck it down, she had challenged the decision in the Supreme Court.
 
Reaching the Adsuls' Kandivali residence, the ED team asked Mr Adsul to accompany him to their office, but the 74-year leader complained of uneasiness and was then admitted to Lifeline Hospital.
 
The Rana couple has been targetting Mr Adsul with allegations of frauds in the cooperative bank, and Ravi Rana had said that both "Anandrao Adsul and Abhijit Adsul must be arrested".
 
Terming the complaint as "motivated and managed" by the Ranas, Mr Adsul - who was planning to travel to New Delhi on Monday - claimed that when the bank's annual turnover is Rs800 crore, how can there be a scam of Rs900 crore as alleged by the MLA, and demanded a free and impartial probe into the matter.
 
In the past, the ED had raided the Adsuls' homes and offices and had questioned them in the same case.
 
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