India, Feb. 20 -- The Mumbai police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Thursday summoned for questioning the chartered accountant (CA) who audited the accounts of the fraud-hit New India Cooperative Bank and gave it an 'A' grade. The police have also recorded the statement of the bank's chief executive officer from 2019 to 2022, when the alleged fraud occurred, officials said.

"We have summoned the chartered accountant, Abhijit Deshmukh of Sanjay Rane and Associates, for questioning on Thursday," said a police officer. "He has carried out the bank's audits from 2019 to 2021."

The summons were issued after Hitesh Mehta, the main accused, claimed he had started siphoning off cash from the bank's vaults since 2019. Mehta allegedly misapprop...