Former MMCB chairman 'disappears'

By Our Special Correspondent

AHMEDABAD, MARCH 31. The deposed chairman of the Ahmedabad-based Madhavpura Mercantile Co-operative Bank, Mr. Ramesh Parikh, is believed to have disappeared from his house here.

Mr. Parikh, who ceased to be the chairman of the bank after the Reserve Bank of India scrapped the bank's board of directors following the run on the bank which began on March 9, was accused of unauthorisedly financing the BSE broker, Mr. Ketan Parekh.

Mr. Parikh, who lives in a posh bungalow in Bopal area on the outskirts of the city, was found missing from his house along with his entire family since this morning. The police has no knowledge of his whereabouts and believes he has gone out of Gujarat.

Mr. K. Nithyanandan, the State Home Secretary, said Mr. Parikh might have ``slipped out'' but pointed out that there was no case registered against the former MMCB chairman.

The court was yet to direct the police to take action against Mr. Parikh on the basis of a criminal complaint filed against him by the RBI with the Ahmedabad Metropolitan Magistrate's Court citing wrongful disclosure and willfully omitting to make a statement clarifying the true financial position of the bank.

Mr. Parekh was arrested in Mumbai for encashing pay orders worth over Rs. 137 crores from the Bank of India issued by the MMCB without having sufficient funds in his account. Strangely, no action was initiated against the defaulting bank except the RBI appointing an administrator to look into its financial condition. This, despite damning evidence against the MMCB where the run began in the first place on account of information leaked out by disillusioned board members about the chairman having unauthorisedly extended huge funds to the Mumbai broker, a source in the banking circle said.

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