Bengaluru, Jun 30 (IANS): More than two dozen depositors of Bengaluru southern suburb's cooperative bank -- Sri Vasista Credit Souharda Sahakari Limited (SVCSSL)-- lodged complaints of cheating, forgery, misappropriation and criminal breach of trust against the bank directors and other administrative board members on Wednesday, the police said here.

Hanumanthnagar police received the first complaint regarding the bank on Friday by Arun B. N., a Bannerghatta resident, who alleged that he had made a fixed deposit of Rs 99 lakh on behalf of his 78-year-old father, Nagaraj B. T.

"The bank was giving interest till November 2020 but it stopped abruptly. Subsequently, it also stopped withdrawal of deposits," alleged Arun in his complaint.

After this complaint, several other depositors have come forward with similar grievances and on Wednesday at least 23 depositors lodged similar complaints against the SVCSSL's Chairman, Venakata Narayana K. N., and his son Krishna Prasad, who is also the bank's Director.

Narayana had earned goodwill among his depositors through his philanthropic work as the Akhila Karnataka Brahmana Mahasabha (AKBMS) President.

Explaining his ordeal to various local news channels, Arun claimed that he repeatedly contacted the bank but they kept dodging him for months till June citing pandemic as the reason.

"When I failed to receive an appropriate response from bankers, I decided to approach the police. On learning about Arun's complaint, several other investors, too, have approached the jurisdictional police alleging that the interest on their money is being stopped and they are not being allowed to withdraw the deposits," the complainants alleged.

A senior police official told IANS on condition of anonymity that they have sought complete details of the investments as the quantum of misappropriation is yet to be estimated as many depositors have not yet come forward.

The police have registered a case and an investigation is underway.