Apex Bank Chairman and Sarupathar BJP MLA Biswajit Phukan has adopted a new strategy to hide the corruption in the bank. Although he should be aware of every financial transaction of the bank, he is now pretending to be unaware in an attempt to downplay the entire matter. This time, he has tried to suppress the serious scam at Apex Bank by using the names of senior journalists in a new way.
Earlier, bank officials filed a false case against a journalist and sent him to jail. Now, they plan to seek certificates from the same journalists. When the false allegations against the journalist could not be proven, Biswajit Phukan devised a new plan to use senior journalists to cover up his failed conspiracy.
Regarding this, Biswajit Phukan stated that the senior journalists can personally review all appointments made over the past four years, including the bank’s managing director, digital platform tenders, and documents related to fraud committed by Rajesh Bajaj. If any corruption has occurred, they are free to report it.
Instead of holding a press conference on the corruption allegations at Apex Bank or initiating an investigation through responsible agencies, Phukan has now begun a new attempt to obtain certificates from four senior journalists. The primary reason behind this move is that the truth about the scams under his leadership has already come to light.
When journalist Dilowar Hussain Mazumdar raised questions about irregularities in the bank, two false and fabricated cases were filed against him. This malicious plan could not have been executed without the chairman’s approval. Initially, Phukan denied any involvement of the bank management in the journalist’s arrest and used one of his subordinates to file a false case. However, when this conspiracy failed in court, his close associate, Dambaru Saikia, was assigned to file a new case.
That conspiracy also collapsed in court. When attempts to intimidate journalists through legal misuse failed, a secret plan was devised to use the same media differently. As part of this plan, an effort is being made to assign four senior journalists the responsibility of auditing the bank.
Notably, Biswajit Phukan has not yet provided a solid response to the corruption allegations against Apex Bank.
In 2023, concrete evidence of corruption at the Assam Cooperative Apex Bank first surfaced. Documents revealed that Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regulations were violated to make multi-crore payments to businessman Rajesh Bajaj, a close associate of MLA Phukan.
Phukan tried to shield himself by making Bajaj and the Dispur branch manager scapegoats. However, the reality is that Rajesh Bajaj was paid a total of ₹20.30 crore through the ‘demand bill process’, which had been prohibited by the RBI. This transaction was approved under the instructions of Apex Bank’s Managing Director, Dambaru Saikia.
Significantly, the Reserve Bank of India had banned the demand bill process or cheque purchasing system on July 1, 2015. Despite this, on April 3, 2023, Rajesh Bajaj, director of North East Plantation and Commercial Private Limited, sent a letter to Apex Bank’s Managing Director Dambaru Saikia requesting ₹15 crore.
Saikia forwarded this letter to the Dispur branch manager and instructed him to take necessary action. This indicates that the scam was executed with Saikia’s approval.
Every bank employee is aware that Dambaru Saikia’s appointment itself was highly suspicious. Initially serving as an assistant general manager in Meghalaya Co-Operative Bank, he was later promoted to Managing Director of Apex Bank through irregular means by Phukan.
This same Dambaru Shaikia later became responsible for getting crores of rupees for businessman Rajesh Bajaj. But Phukan is now trying to show himself clean by blaming only the manager of the Dispur branch.
To cover up the scam, Phukan first tried to falsely imprison a journalist, and when that failed, he attempted to use the names of senior journalists to shield himself.
