India, April 9 -- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached movable and immovable assets worth Rs.16.95 crore in connection with its money-laundering probe into the alleged Rs.122-crore embezzlement at New India Co-operative Bank Ltd (NICBL).

The attached assets-including fixed deposits, bank balances, residential flats, a commercial office and agricultural land-are linked to the bank's former chairman Hiren Bhanu and his family members. The action has been taken under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), officials said on Wednesday.

The ED initiated its probe last year based on an FIR registered by the Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW), after the alleged fraud came to light in Februa...