Nagpur: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Nagpur Rural police arrested Sachin Karemore (40), a key member of an interstate gang accused of fraudulently obtaining agricultural loans worth Rs73.82 crore from a nationalised bank by forging documents in the names of poor and uneducated farmers.Acting on information that Karemore, a resident of Neri in Mohadi tehsil of Bhandara district, was preparing to flee Maharashtra, a team led by police inspector Yogesh Kamale laid a trap and nabbed him from Nagpur Railway Station area.Police said the gang would approach farmers claiming they would get Rs10,000 a year as govt compensation for crop damage if they opened accounts in a nationalised bank.After collecting Aadhaar cards, PAN cards and 7/12 extracts, the accused took the farmers to the bank branches at Mauda and Ramtek. After obtaining the signatures of farmers on documents written in English, the gang allegedly siphoned Rs54.69 crore from the bank at Mauda and Rs19.13 crore from the Ramtek bank.The money was transferred to shell companies floated by Karemore. So far, 16 cases have been registered at Mauda and Ramtek police stations. EOW teams are searching for the remaining members of the interstate syndicate.Investigation, under Senior SP Harssh A Poddar and Addl SP Anil Mhaske, revealed that the accused obtained fake warehouse licences from Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority in Delhi and pledged the forged electronic Negotiable Warehouse Receipts to avail loans under Produce Marketing Loan scheme.Karemore already faces paddy scam cases in Bhandara, Gadchiroli and Aheri. The Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court cancelled his anticipatory bail last month after he remained absconding for several months.
