Pune: Rs. 500 Notes Vanish from Baramati Bank 

Fingers pointed at Ajit Pawar for misuse of money for political gain. 

7 May 2024

By Khushi Maheshwari

The battle in the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency has taken centre stage. In a shocking revelation, it was found that 500-rupee notes had vanished from the Baramati Cooperative Bank as the election day drew closer. Dr. Suhas Diwase, the chief electoral officer and district collector of Pune, has requested an investigation into the situation.

Previously, MLA Rohit Pawar had bluntly targeted Ajit Pawar in a video. The accusation against Ajit Pawar was that the money was being wrongly utilised for parties organised by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar by his Party. 

In the same video he had spoken about how Rs. 500 notes have vanished from Baramati Cooperative bank and how they are unavailable to those who have accounts in the same bank. He had sardonically taunted Pawar, saying that the location of these notes is a secret. Stating similar instances, he talked about PDCC Bank and how having a houseful show can be associated with monetary power, not just chance. He left it up to the wisdom of the residents of Baramati to come to their own conclusions regarding the same matter. 

After hearing all the accusations and allegations, Dr Suhas Diwase, the District Collector and chief election officer, informed that they have a dedicated team to oversee all bank transactions, including large-scale cash deposits and withdrawals. The team has over 2,400 bank branches under investigation. Officials from the departments of forests, railroads, income tax, narcotics and central and state goods and services taxes are on this team. He added that he had given instructions to investigate the veracity of the claims. If someone is proven guilty, the proper action will be taken, he further assured. 

Misuse of money by people in authority has been a global concern. Customers around the world are apprehensive due to recent bank collapses in the United States, such as Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, as well as the takeover by the European bank Credit Suisse. 

Previous occurrences in India have raised more worries. These incidents involved banks like Global Trust Bank, Yes Bank, Lakshmi Vilas Bank, Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) and others.