Police detain eighth suspect in Bokaro bank scandal

Rajeev Ranjan Pandey, 47, also known as Pawan Gupta, has become the eighth person arrested in the New India Cooperative Bank money siphoning case. He was taken into custody in Bokaro and appeared in a holiday court on Sunday. The court has granted police seven days of custody for further investigation. Police say that Pandey received around ₹15 crore from the ₹122 crore that was siphoned from the bank. Authorities are trying to understand why he got this money from another accused, Unnathan Arunachalam, who is a businessman involved in solar panels. Pandey’s connection to the case came to light during Arunachalam’s interrogation. Arunachalam reportedly received about ₹50 crore from Hitesh Mehta, the bank’s general manager and main accused in the case. Police have revealed that Pandey has been involved in money-doubling schemes. After his name surfaced, police tracked him down using technical evidence. A team from Jharkhand, along with local police, arrested him in Bokaro. He confessed to accepting the money during questioning. Following his arrest, he was taken to Mumbai for further legal proceedings. Additionally, an officer from the Economic Offences Wing confirmed that they will conduct a brain mapping test on Hitesh Mehta on March 28 after his lie detector test produced deceptive results. Former bank chairpersons Gauri and Hiren Bhanu, who are currently evading authorities, maintain their innocence, claiming that Mehta orchestrated the scam.