Daijiworld Media Network - Lucknow
Lucknow, Dec 5: The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) has dismantled a major inter-state bank loan fraud worth over Rs 100 crore, arresting eight members of a high-profile gang that used forged documents and fake identities to secure loans from multiple banks.
The operation, conducted by the STF’s Gautam Buddh Nagar field unit on Thursday, led to the arrest of kingpin Ramkumar, a former bank loan executive, along with Nitin Jain, Mohd Wasi, Shamshad Alam, Indra Kumar Karmakar, Anuj Yadav, Tahir Hussain, and Ashok alias Deepak Jain.
During the raid, officials seized forged Aadhaar and PAN cards, bank passbooks, cheque books, debit cards, laptops, mobile phones, and three cars.
The investigation began after HDFC Bank flagged suspicious loan applications. Under the supervision of ASP Rajkumar Mishra and DSP Navendu Kumar, Inspector Sachin Kumar’s team traced the gang’s activities and laid a trap.
The STF revealed that the gang forged Aadhaar cards to create fake identities, registered shell companies, opened bank accounts, and produced fabricated salary slips to build financial profiles. Using these, they secured home, personal, and business loans, often colluding with builders and certain bank staff.
Notably, members Mohd Wasi and Shamshad targeted individuals from Bihar and Jharkhand working in Gulf countries, misusing their identities for loans and property purchases. Another fraud involved the property of deceased Delhi resident Ratna Vasudeva, where a Rs 4.8 crore loan was fraudulently obtained.
The STF has so far frozen around 220 bank accounts linked to the gang and recovered 126 passbooks/cheque books, 170 debit cards, 45 Aadhaar cards, 27 PAN cards, 15 fake ID cards, five voter IDs, 26 mobile phones, three laptops, and three cars.
The arrested members are highly educated professionals, including MBAs, law graduates, and a company secretary. The gang operated across Noida, Lucknow, Varanasi, Haridwar, Chandigarh, Delhi, and Gurugram.
A case has been registered at Surajpur Police Station, Gautam Buddh Nagar, under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the IT Act. Officials indicate that further arrests, including “bigger names,” are expected as the investigation continues.