31 August,2023 08:06 PM IST | Nagpur | mid-day online correspondent
Representational Pic/File
More than 150 farmers have been allegedly cheated of Rs 113 crore in a loan fraud in three tehsils of Nagpur district in Maharashtra, a police official said on Thursday, reported the PTI.
The main accused is a rice mill owner from Mauda, who allegedly lured 151 farmers with promises of financial help after a wet drought in the region in 2017, the official said, according to the PTI.
"He and his associates got bank accounts opened in the name of these 151 farmers from Mauda, Parseoni and Ramtek tehsils after getting them to give their PAN and Aadhaar details," he said, the news agency reported.
"Loans ranging from Rs 45 lakh to Rs 50 lakh were obtained in their names from a bank in Kingsway in Sadar and then these were siphoned off into accounts of 12 firms owned by main accused Ramannnarao Bolla," the official added, according to the PTI.
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The fraud came to light when several of these farmers, who had no idea about these loans, recently got recovery notices from the bank, after which they confronted the main accused, he said.
"While Bolla promised to return the money, he did not keep his promise after which they approached police. Six of these farmers did not even own agricultural land," he said.
A case of cheating and other offences under the Indian Penal Code, Information Technology and Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act has been registered against Bolla and 17 others, including personnel from the bank and the 12 firms owned by the main accused.
Meanwhile, in an another incident, the Mumbai police arrested a 23-year-old man for allegedly duping holidayers on the pretext of online booking of villas and bungalows, an official said on Wednesday, the PTI reported.
Akash Wadhwani, a resident of the eastern suburb of Ghatkopar, was taken into custody from a hotel in Juhu on Monday. He would often stay put in luxury hotels to evade arrest, the official said. He faces nearly 20 such cases, said the official.
Wadhwani's arrest came on a complaint filed last week by an employee of a private firm located in the business hub of Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC).
The complainant told the police that she was cheated of Rs 90,000 after she tried to make an online booking for a villa at Alibaug for a vacation.
According to the complainant, she came across a website 'vistarastays.com' when she was searching online for villas and bungalows at Alibaug for a vacation.
After she contacted the website, the woman was asked to pay Rs 90,000 to book a villa in the coastal town, the official said citing her complaint.
However, closer to the booking date, the person she was in touch with became unreachable, the official said.
Sub-inspector Rajesh Garad from BKC police station said, With the help of technical evidence, we nabbed Wadhwani from a hotel in Juhu.
Wadhwani has been booked under Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and the IT Act, the official added.
(with PTI inputs)
