SBI employee dupes customers of 97 lakh

RAJKOT: At least 127 customers and the State Bank of India (SBI) have registered complaints charging a SBI employee in Bhavnagar district's Talaja branch on Sunday with cheating, forgery, breach of trust among other things.
The complaints said Mahedrasinh R Sarvaiya, 48, betrayed the trust of the people and the bank to dupe them of Rs 97 lakh for the past so many years.The amount could go up, bank sources said, adding that the scam came to light when a customer went to withdraw his deposit from the bank branch a fortnight ago.
Talaja police station officer S Shaikh said an FIR has been registered against Sarvaiya under various sections of the IPC for forgery ,cheating, breach of trust and misuse of power.
Villagers from Sartanpar and nearby coastal areas flocked the Talaja branch to collect their money. They have been handing over their life's savings to Sarvaiya which he never deposited in their accounts with the bank.
Babu H Chudasama, who was the first person to file a complaint against Sarvaiya, said he had three accounts in the bank and has been duped of about Rs four lakhs. He said most of the villager, who were into shipping and fishing business, used to hand over huge sums of money to Sarvaiya. He said the villagers trusted him and that he kept their passbooks and other documents with him.
SBI Talaja main branch manager Priyavrat Mishra was reluctant to say anything about the case. He said Bhavnagar regional office has sent three senior officers to investigate the matter.
Meanwhile, Sarvaiya consumed poison after the scam came into the open. He is under treatment in a private hospital in Bhavnagar.