TN: CBI arrests absconding accused in bank fraud case

Chennai, March 17 (IANS) In a significant breakthrough in a long‑pending bank fraud case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested an absconding accused who had been evading authorities for years by living under a false identity in Chennai.

The accused, identified as M. Naga Kumar alias Tamil Selvan, was apprehended on March 16, 2026, following sustained surveillance and intelligence‑based operations.

The case dates back to September 29, 2015, when the CBI registered a First Information Report based on a complaint from Indian Bank’s Chennai North Zone.

The complaint alleged that several individuals, including the prime accused K. Rajendran, proprietor of M/s Sri Sai Baba Real Estates and Constructions, along with associates and unknown public servants, had conspired to defraud the bank.

The accused allegedly secured home loans worth Rs 4.66 crore by submitting forged documents.

According to investigators, M. Naga Kumar was one of the beneficiaries of the fraudulent loan scheme. After a detailed probe, the CBI filed a chargesheet on March 14, 2017, against 33 accused, including Kumar.

However, he had remained on the run since the investigation phase, successfully evading arrest for nearly a decade.

Officials revealed that Kumar had adopted a new identity, renaming himself Tamil Selvan, and had altered his official documents to avoid detection.

He was reportedly living in Chennai with his wife under this assumed identity.

The breakthrough came after the CBI employed advanced tracking techniques and conducted extensive field operations to trace his whereabouts.

Following discreet verification of his identity, the agency moved in to arrest him.

Kumar was subsequently produced before a competent court in Chennai and has been remanded to judicial custody.

The arrest highlights the CBI’s continued efforts to track down long‑absconding accused in financial crimes, even years after the initial offence.

In a similar recent case, the agency had arrested a proclaimed offender, Harpal Singh Ahuja, in connection with a 24‑year‑old bank fraud case.

Ahuja had been absconding since 2014 and was declared a proclaimed offender by a Ghaziabad court in August that year, with an open‑dated arrest warrant issued in 2017.

The CBI reiterated its commitment to pursuing financial offenders and ensuring that those involved in fraud and corruption are brought to justice, regardless of the passage of time.

--IANS

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