Mumbai, March 14 -- Bears began converging at the IndusInd Bank derivatives counter as October drew to a close, a time when the private lender detected the debacle that would jolt its investors only months later.

The trading patterns in IndusInd Bank's active futures contract since October, and the sudden build-up in cash market volumes more recently, appear to suggest that segments of the market may have anticipated something amiss much before the exit of the bank's chief financial officer in January, and the surfacing of accounting lapses this week. A day after the bank informed stock exchanges about discrepancies in the derivatives portfolio on Monday, the bank's stock tumbled a steep 27%. Interestingly, CEO Sumant Kathpalia said on M...