Farmer mistaken for director of Kingfisher Airlines, accounts seized

Pilibhit (UP), May 21:A poor farmer from Pilibhit, Sardar Manmohan Singh, had no clue when the bank sent him notice of seizing his accounts. Alleged to be the 'director' of the now-defunct airlines, the farmer in fact never heard of the liqor baron in the first place, but can recollect something from recent news.

He said, "I have heard his (Mallya's) name but never met him. I have no idea how I was made the director of his company," said Singh whose name, according to bank officials, appeared in the list of guarantors/directors of Kingfisher Airlines. The list contains nine names, including Vijay Mallya, his son Siddharth, and Singh."

He further added, "Earlier, I thought it was just due to negligence on part of bank officials but now that no action has been taken, I have started to get worried."

Manager of Bank of Baroda Nand branch in Pilibhit said, "We received a letter to seize his (Singh's) account for recovery of the loan amount in December last year. The letter was sent by the bank's regional office at Nariman Point, Mumbai.

Following this, Singh sent two clarification letters saying he had no knowledge of the loan. Citing the irony, Singh said, "The bank officials said that my account would be reopened but they have done nothing. I have Rs 4,000 in one account and Rs 1,217 in another. How will they recover loan worth crores from my accounts? My annual income is less than 3 lakhs."

A spokesperson of the United Breweries group said that Manmohan Singh was never a director of the company. Incidentally, the company's annual report in 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 listed one Manmohan Singh Kapur, a retired banker, an independent director in the company. The report further said, "Manmohan Singh Kapur holds degrees of B Sc and MA from Punjab University. He is a career banker with more than 39 years of experience, mostly in the field of banking. He retired as chairman and managing director of Vijaya Bank."