In an intriguing case that has many twists and turns, an Income Tax search in Mangaluru recently, which led to the seizure of ₹5 crore belonging to IDBI Bank, has ended with the bank seeking a CBI investigation into the episode.
The case unfolded in mid-December 2023, when Income Tax sleuths swooped down on a business establishment near Kankanady where a currency-laden vehicle carrying ₹5 crore had come to deliver money from IDBI Bank. The I-T investigation revealed that the businessman at whose premises the vehicle had arrived was not connected with the transaction, and the money was meant to reach another person, who is a regular customer of the bank.
Questioning of the customer revealed that though he had sought a loan against gold that was in the locker of the Kankanady branch of IDBI Bank, he had not completed the application process. Also, there was no explanation for the currency laden vehicle arriving where it did even while the transaction itself was incomplete.
