SRINAGAR, Mar 6: The Court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Shopian on Friday rejected the bail applications of five officials of HDFC Bank who were arrested in connection with an alleged large scale financial fraud, officials said.
The accused were arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) Kashmir of the Crime Branch, Jammu and Kashmir, and are currently lodged in judicial custody at Central Jail Srinagar.
The officials seeking bail were identified as Adil Ayoub Ganai of Memendar Shopian, presently residing at Hamza Colony Baghat-e-Kanipora Nowgam; Irfan Majeed Zargar of Sheikh Mohalla Bonigam Shopian; Mubashir Hussain Sheikh of Karena Kulgam; Zaid Manzoor of Dagerpora Khannabal Anantnag; and Javaid Ahmad Bhat of Below Rajpora Pulwama.
During the hearing, Additional Public Prosecutor Waseem Ahmad Shah, representing the Economic Offences Wing Kashmir, opposed the bail pleas. After reviewing the case records and hearing arguments from both sides, the court declined to grant relief to the accused.
According to officials, the case has been registered under Sections 316(5), 318(4), 336(3), 340(2) and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Section 66(C) of the Information Technology Act at Police Station EOW Kashmir.
The investigation began after a written complaint alleged serious financial irregularities at the HDFC Bank branch in Shopian. The matter was initially examined by Shopian Police before being handed over to the Crime Branch’s Economic Offences Wing for a detailed investigation.
Preliminary findings during the probe reportedly revealed a discrepancy of nearly ₹1.35 crore between the physical cash available in the bank’s vault and the amount recorded in the system ledger, prompting further investigation by authorities.