PO lands in Chandigarh police net

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 24

A proclaimed offender (PO), who allegedly duped several banks by availing of loans to purchase vehicles by furnishing fake documents, has been arrested by the UT police. Four SUVs and a car have been recovered by the police.

The police said Sarti Kumar Murgai (50) and his wife Raj Kumari, residents of Zirakpur, were declared POs in December 2020 in a cheating case registered against them at the Sector 17 police station on a complaint of an official of the State Bank of Patiala, who had alleged that the suspects took a loan for a Toyota Fortuner on the basis of fake documents.

The police managed to arrest Sarti Kumar from Delhi on January 11. He was produced in the court and remanded in seven-day police custody.

During interrogation, he disclosed that the Toyota Fortuner was purchased on the basis of fake documents. The SUV was later sold by the suspects to someone in Lucknow. The police then recovered the SUV from Greater Noida.

The police said during the investigation, three more complaints were received against Sarti Kumar and his wife from three banks regarding loans taken from them. A loan for a Ford Endeavour was taken from HDFC Bank, Industrial Area, for a Tata Safari from the Bank of India, Sector 20, and for a Mahindra Scorpio from Canara Bank, Mani Majra. The police got the suspect’s remand extended by five days and managed to recover three more SUVs and a Ritz car.

These vehicles have been taken into possession by the police through a seizure memo under Section 102 of the CrPC.

The police said the suspect had been declared a defaulter by the RBI in a case titled PNB vs Sarit Kumar Murgai, in which he cheated the PNB of Rs1 crore for installing a factory in Baddi. It had also come to light that he cheated ICICI Bank, Sector 9, of Rs17.80 lakh

Modus operandi

The police claimed that Sarti Kumar allegedly obtained vehicle loans from various banks by furnishing fake papers and was later declared a defaulter. The vehicles were then further sold by preparing fake NOCs of the banks concerned. —

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