Notwithstanding the presence of a few charismatic personalities, including a rockstar governor with dazzling good looks who floored the media, banking has generally remained a staid occupation in India, far removed from the shadowy world of the sleuth. Until now.

In a new development, agents from the Intelligence Bureau have been frequenting branches of IDBI Bank in many parts of the country, including Kerala, to get a low-down on the employee reaction to the Centre’s proposed move to sell a stake in the bank.

The Centre currently owns 80.96 per cent of the Mumbai-based bank, which saw some employee unrest over the stake sale move two years ago, resulting in the suspension or transfer of a few.

At least a couple of officers of the bank in Kerala told BusinessLine that they had been approached by IB sleuths, who wanted to know their views on the stake sale.

This has prompted the state leadership of the officers’ union to issue an unusual advisory to members, asking them to bring any such outreach to its notice.

Union advisory

According to an officer, the advisory said that “if any branches/offices are receiving calls from IB officials, kindly redirect to the state committee members. Also inform that we strongly oppose privatisation of IDBI Bank.”

The Centre reportedly proposes to showcase IDBI Bank as a model of its plan to gradually reduce its shareholding to less than 50 per cent. In the 2016-17 budget, Finance minister Arun Jaitley had said as much, inviting howls of protest from employees.

“I was accosted by a lady IB officer. She told me that her brief is to learn about any plans for an agitation/strike against the stake sale,” said another officer. The officer added: “My reply to the IB official was that we strongly oppose privatisation. We’re even ready to launch an indefinite strike to support the cause of the bank.”

Earlier this year, the Centre had infused ₹10,610 crore into the bank. Of this, ₹7,881 crore was allotted by way of recapitalisation bonds, and ₹2,729 crore as the direct capital infusion for the current financial year.

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