Ahmedabad, June 12: The Gujarat BJP today attempted to downplay the alleged involvement of minister of state for cow protection Prabhatsinh Chauhan in the multi-crore co-operative bank scam in Panchamahals, even as the minister asserted he was in no way involved in any misappropriation of funds. "Law will take its own course and a mere mention of his name in the fir does not necessarily mean that he is guilty,” state BJP president Rajendrasinh Rana said, when asked about the party's stand.

Ruling out any action against Chauhan, Rana said, "Let it (minister's involvement) be proved only then the party can contemplate any action."
Meanwhile, asserting that he was not involved in any kind of irregularity, chauhan said, "There has been no wrongful lending or fraud, either by me or any other member of the bank."

He alleged the complaint has been filed "without going into the details of advances and other aspects." The administrator of the crisis-ridden Panchamahals district co-operative bank had yesterday accused Chauhan and 29 others, including some former and sitting MPs and MLAs. Of allegedly misappropriating funds to the tune of Rs 124 crore through wrongful lending in the agriculture and non-agriculture sectors.

Bureau Report