Bizman smuggling exotic birds trapped in DRI’s cage

Mumbai:

A businessman was arrested after 34 rare birds—19 of them of exotic species—were seized from him by officials of the Mumbai unit of the directorate of revenue intelligence (DRI).


The accused, Dominic Sequeira (40), who is from Pune was arrested outside the Kolkata airport on Monday with the birds which he had illegally brought from South Africa for sale in different cities across India. Though Sequeira has no past cases against him, officials said he is part of a “larger” syndicate that operates in West Bengal, Pune and in Chennai.

The Mumbai unit of DRI’s Mumbai unit nabbed Sequeira, who has prospective clients in the commercial capital, on a tip-off that he had tried to sell the birds of the exotic species in Mumbai. The officials said Sequeira is into illegal trade of endangered birds.

A raid at his house at Vadgaon Sheri in Pune yielded 19 exotic birds and 15 other birds including love birds of African origin, a sun parakeet, two great Billed parrots of Philippines origin and a white cockatoo from Indonesia. Sources said some of these birds are rare and could fetch several lakhs. “Also, there is a big demand for these birds in the international market,” the official said.

“The seized birds have been handed over to Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park, Katraj in Pune for safe custody,” said an officer. “The value of the exotic birds is very high. These birds appear to have been illegally imported into the country.”

Last month, four people were arrested after DRI officials busted an illegal trade of shark fins from India and seized 8 tonnes of fins. The agency had also seized a huge quantity of star tortoises in August this year.



RESCUED IN A RAID: Cockatoos, lovebirds, Sun parakeets and parrots were seized in Kolkata by the Mumbai unit of DRI from a businessman from Pune

Gujarat: 45,000 Madhavpura bank depositors to get their money back

Close to 45,000 depositors of scam-ridden erstwhile Madhavpura Mercentile Cooperative Bank (MMCB) will get their deposits back, said a statement from Gujarat Urban Cooperative Banks Federation (GUCBF). In the latest round of returning money to the depositors, those who had deposits upto Rs two lakh will get their deposits back, 17 years after Rs1,200 crore scam hit depositors and bankers alike. Sources in Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) in Gujarat have sought that local cooperative banks, that had lost their money in the scam, should also get their deposits back.

GUCBF, said in a statement that the announcement that depositors with deposits up to Rs two lakh will get their deposits back is as welcome gesture. "It will be a big relief for small time depositors, senior citizens and those in need of medical treatment. We welcome the move that depositors will finally get their money back," said Jyotindra Mehta, chairman of GUCBF.

Earlier, the bank had repaid to depositors with deposits up to Rs one lakh. Now the limits have been raised. Mehta further demanded that just as individual depositors are getting back their deposits, banks which had their deposits in Madhavpura Banks should also be repaid. Till now individual depositors have got back about 52 per cent of their money, while UCBs have got 28 per cent of their deposits back. The idea was that individual depositors should not lose their principal. "But after all, the money deposited by UCBs also belong to individual depositors. So just as direct individual depositors got 52 per cent of their money back, UCBs should also get 52 per cent of their deposits back," demanded Mehta. According to estimates, 281 banks had lost Rs 665 crore in the scam.


National banking watchdog The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had cancelled banking license of MMCB in 2012. A liquidation committee had been appointed, which is trying to recover the dues from those who had taken loans from MMCB. As the loans are being recovered, the money is being returned to the depositors.

The scam had seriously dented the image of cooperative banking sector in general and it took them over a decade to bring back confidence of the depositors.

SOME RELIEF
In the latest round of returning money to the depositors, those who had deposits up to Rs 2 lakh will get their deposits back, 17 years after Rs 1,200-crore scam hit depositors and bankers alike.