3 Mulund-Bhandup PMC Bank Depositors Arrested At Azad Maidan Protest!
Ever since the scam-hit Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank has been into controversy, the depositors are in a fix. While a few weak-hearted depositors have died due to heart attack, the other depositors are fighting tooth and nail to seek justice. In a series of protests, on Wednesday, the depositors of PMC Bank collectively staged a protest at Azad Maidan against the Bank’s management, the RBI and the government, demanding the withdrawal of restriction and an immediate payback of their dues.
The protest witnessed a massive gathering of over 1,500 depositors. After displaying their strength at Azad Maidan, when the depositors tried to move towards Mantralaya, the police stopped them and, in the melee, they arrested 3 depositors from Mulund and Bhandup. The arrested included Mulund resident Gurjyot Keer, Bhandup residents Manali Narkar and Hitesh Yadav. The trio was later released after a warning.
Gurjyot Keer, the Mulund youth, who has been spearheading the PMC protest from day one told Home Times, “To seek a concrete solution to the PMC scam we decided to approach Mantralaya and gherao the mantris but the police thwarted our efforts by closing the gates of Azad Maidan. The police detained me and my two colleagues. Our detention thwarted our protest.”
Lambasting the police machinery, Gurjyot Keer said, “The police have given us a warning that if we repeat similar protests in public places then the police would make criminal cases against us and arrest us!!” He added, “What kind of justice is this? We are already victims of the PMC Bank scam and the RBI! How long would we keep silent? After all, our life savings have been blocked and we have been reduced to begging!! We cannot keep silence for long!”
According to reports, the depositors raised slogans like ‘RBI get-well-soon!’ and ‘RBI Chor Hai!!’ Besides, angry depositors also expressed their fury against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and raised anti-Modi slogans. The Mumbai police had made appropriate bandobast to tackle the crowd.
Keer further informed Home Times, “We are not getting any concrete assurance either from the RBI or the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. Hence, we are voicing our grievances in public. On Tuesday, we had a meeting with RBI but the meeting failed as the RBI is not giving us in writing that our money is safe in the scam-hit controversy. We also demanded RBI merge PMC Bank with a government bank and requested the restriction on the withdrawal be removed. But nothing materialized, hence we were forced to conduct this morcha at Azad Maidan,” he moaned.
