Key accused in bank fraud case now in Panbazar police custody

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The key accused in the Canara Bank fraud case involving an amount of over Rs 10 crore, Sushanta Baruah, is now in the custody of Panbazar police. The Panbazar police took custody of the accused after he was produced before the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) by the Hatigaon police on Sunday at the end of their custody period. On December 9, Baruah was arrested by the Hatigaon police from Jorhat and brought to Guwahati. As per police records, Sushanta Baruah who is an actor by profession, had fraudulently taken a total of 16 loans totaling over Rs 10 crore from Canara Bank, Panbazar branch in Guwahati in the name of 16 persons by submitting their documents without their knowledge. The victims were all known to the accused and he took advantage of it by persuading them to part away with their documents for some other work.

The matter came to light when the Canara Bank authorities registered a case (no 358/21) at the Panbazar police station in April this year against the 16 persons in whose names the loans were sanctioned. During investigation, the victims denied their involvement in the matter. In October, one of the victims, Ratul Sarma, a resident of Duliajan, filed a case (no 539/21) at the Panbazar police station against the accused Sushanta Baruah, alleging that the latter had taken a loan against his name by submitting his documents without his knowledge.

Similarly, on October 25, another victim, Tridip Gogoi, also a resident of Duliajan, filed a case (no 917/21 u/s 120B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 419 (cheating by personation) of the IPC against the accused at Hatigaon police station. In his complaint, he mentioned that the accused had taken a loan against his name in 2014 by submitting his documents without his knowledge.

Meanwhile, the police are suspecting the involvement of senior bank officials in the entire episode. The police had issued summons to the then manager of Canara Bank of Panbazar branch when the fraud took place. The former manager of the bank is now based in Bihar, police said.

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