Going Astray

A star brat has been caught in a narcotics raid on a cruise ship in Mumbai, and without knowing the intricacies of the case, the well-wishers of the celebrity star have started defending the young 23 year old, who is supposed to be as innocent as a lamb. One of them said that his only fault was that he was at a wrong place at a wrong time.

The media are running behind the brat and his family and friends to boost their TRPs. The politicians, as usual, are busy pointing fingers at one another. But none is interested in fathoming how and why the lad went astray despite the best parenting efforts.

This incident reminds me of a case when I was heading the Credit CPC (Centralised Processing Centre) at Mumbai. I received a proposal from one of my linked branches for enhancement in loan from ₹5 million to ₹20 million, a four-fold increase.

The loan was originally sanctioned and disbursed by the branch concerned before creation of Credit CPC. The activity of the firm was export-import.

The case was incidentally of Nand Kumar, son of a senior officer, Sudhi (Sudhindra) sir, who was my controller’s controller at one point of time. He had since retired from the Bank’s service.

I took it as a normal case and handed it over to one of my appraising officers. But the next day Nand Kumar landed at my office with request to intimate him in advance when my officer would for spot inspection. Throughout he called me ‘uncle’ to show his proximity, though I had never met him earlier.

I grew a bit suspicious, but I didn’t tell anything about this request to my officer, as he had other cases too to schedule his visits as per his convenience.

After two days, my officer visited the house, which was being offered as an additional collateral security for enhanced limit. The house was closed, and the demand notices from three different banks were pasted on its door. It meant that the house was already mortgaged with three banks.

I asked my officer then to visit the property he had already mortgaged with us for sanction of the original loan by the branch. That property was a godown, but was being used by some other firm, not by his firm. It’s title was also defective.

It was a clear-cut case of fraud, where the security without a clear title had been given to the bank. The statement of his account and the financial statements were full of discrepancies raising further doubts.

Without telling Nand Kumar, I took my immediate boss (the zonal head) into confidence. He couldn’t believe it, but I had documentary proofs with photographs. Even then, his retort was,

“Are you sure, Kaushal? His father was my senior and was once my neighbour. He was an upright and soft-spoken officer, adored by one and all. I had seen that boy also. He was very polite and well-behaved. I can’t imagine that he can be so disgraceful.”

My boss immediately called Sudhi sir to recite the entire story. Within a few hours, I received a call from Sudhi sir himself that he was coming from Kolkata by the morning flight. He requested me not to take further action till he reaches Mumbai the very next day.

I don’t know whether Sudhi sir was aware of his son’s odious act or not, but I felt guilty to see the agony of a senior respectable officer on his face and in his fumbling voice. But I was helpless, and so was my boss. Sudhi sir arranged money somehow to liquidate the loan and to close the account.

image: pixabay

–Kaushal Kishore

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