Times News NetworkKanpur: Police arrested three men accused of posing as chartered accountants and fraudulently securing an Rs 80 lakh loan in an auto driver’s name after creating a bogus firm and forging his deceased mother’s signatures. A manager of the Indian Bank allegedly involved in the case absconded before police could detain him.The arrests followed a complaint lodged on Monday by Shivam Shukla, an auto driver from Vinayakpur Panchvati, with Police Commissioner Raghubir Lal. He alleged that the accused assaulted and threatened him after he questioned them about the loan.Shukla said he met Rahul Ojha, Gyanendra Vishwakarma and Arpit, originally from Siwan in Bihar, in September 2024. They allegedly introduced themselves as chartered accountants. Rahul hired him at an office in Lakhanpuri for a monthly salary of Rs 12,000.Rahul allegedly promised to help Shukla establish a rice mill and obtain benefits under the PMFME scheme, and asked him to take a loan of Rs 10 lakh. When Shukla said did not have the required documents, Rahul claimed that he had connections with Kumar Pawan, then manager of Indian Bank’s Kalyanpur branch.The accused also allegedly offered Shukla a commission of Rs 20,000 for each Rs 5-10 lakh loan file he brought them. Shukla subsequently helped open bank accounts for 10 people.Rahul and Gyanendra later allegedly introduced Shukla to bank AGM Anand Gaurav and registered a bogus firm, Shivam Traders, in his name. Shukla alleged that the accused, in collusion with GST officials, used forged signatures to show his mother, Santosh Kumari, who had died in 2019, as alive while preparing residence documents for the firm.The accused allegedly obtained a quotation from Hatel Engineering Machines in Ispat Nagar and secured the Rs 80 lakh loan through Shukla’s firm. He learnt about it after receiving a bank notice when instalments remained unpaid for about nine months.The Police Commissioner ordered the police to register a case and arrest the accused. He directed DCP (West) SM Qasim Abidi to conduct raids. During questioning, the police learnt that Kumar Pawan had been transferred to Indian Bank’s Govind Nagar branch. DCP (South) Dipendra Nath Chaudhary was directed to detain him, but he had fled before Govind Nagar police arrived.Shukla alleged that the accused operated a syndicate that registered bogus firms and cheated many people.
