The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Assam Police has arrested a Guwahati man in connection with an alleged Rs 40 lakh vehicle loan fraud involving multiple Canara Bank branches, officials said.
Ramen Saikia, alias Jaan Saikia, was arrested from his Birubari residence in Guwahati on October 6 following an investigation into the alleged fraudulent procurement of vehicle loans from Canara Bank branches in the greater Guwahati area.
The case followed a complaint by the Senior Manager of Canara Bank’s Ulubari branch. According to the complaint, the branch sanctioned and disbursed four vehicle loans of Rs 8 lakh each between February and June 2023 in the names of Juri Mahanta Saikia, Madhuparna Choudhary, Leline Rabha and Samudra Jyoti Kashyap.
Separately, the bank’s Amingaon branch sanctioned another Rs 8 lakh vehicle loan in the name of Jaan Saikia under the MSME Vahan Scheme for the purchase of a Bolero BS6 commercial vehicle.
The loan applications were allegedly supported by vehicle quotations from M/S Ramnarayan Shiprasad, an authorised Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. dealer in Jorhat.
The alleged irregularities came to light after the loan accounts became Non-Performing Assets (NPAs). An internal enquiry by the bank’s Administrative Office subsequently detected discrepancies in the loan documents, the complaint stated.
The enquiry allegedly found that Saikia and his associates had submitted forged vehicle quotations, Registration Certificate (RC) copies, insurance documents and other supporting papers to the concerned bank branches.
According to the complaint, the alleged use of forged documents enabled Saikia and his associates to secure vehicle loans totalling Rs 40 lakh from multiple Canara Bank branches.
Following the complaint, the CID began investigating the suspected financial fraud and arrested Saikia, son of Dhaneswar Saikia, on October 6.
The investigation is continuing to identify other alleged accomplices and determine the extent of the suspected fraud and the network allegedly involved.
