In a major breakthrough, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Nasreen Taj, a key accused in a ₹12.63 crore bank fraud case, who had been absconding for nearly seven years. Taj was apprehended in Bengaluru on July 19, where she had reportedly assumed a new identity to avoid detection.
Taj, who had been living under the alias “Ms. Salma”, had cut ties with her family as well as all her known associates and was constantly relocating to evade law enforcement.
Tracing the case’s history
The original case was registered on April 15, 2009, against nine individuals, including Asadullah Khan, then branch manager of Syndicate Bank in Mandya, Karnataka, and his wife, Nasreen Taj. The accused were alleged to have colluded to defraud the bank by securing fraudulent loans and misusing sanctioned funds.
Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI’s) findings revealed that Taj, despite having no verifiable income, obtained loans, including a Temporary Overdraft of ₹1.2 crore and farm loans totalling ₹55 lakh. Rather than investing the funds in agriculture, the funds were allegedly used to repay the overdraft itself, in clear violation of the loan terms.
A chargesheet was filed on October 12, 2010, by the CBI, where Taj was named as one of the principal conspirators. However, she failed to appear for trial since 2019, prompting a Bengaluru Special Court to declare her a proclaimed offender on November 27, 2021, and order the attachment of her assets.
Digital trail leads to arrest
According to officials, the arrest was the result of meticulous tracking, which involved the use of digital footprint analysis, surveillance technologies, and on-ground intelligence gathering. CBI teams had been pursuing leads for years and intensified efforts over recent months.
Taj was finally located in Bengaluru, where she had been living as Ms. Salma and had maintained a low-profile life under a fictitious identity. Following her arrest, Taj was produced before a local court and has now been remanded to judicial custody, paving the way for the stalled trial to resume.