Abohar, July 1
The police have arrested a person (mastermind) who allegedly duped scores of farmers of Rs 5 crore in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan by availing of loans in their name for polyhouse farming.
The suspect has been identified as Vinod Kohli. He was arrested from Chandigarh. He had been dodging the police for the past four years.
Hanumangarh SP Ajay Singh said he used to change SIM card of his mobile phone every hour. Eleven SIMs were recovered from him. “Our team finally nabbed him. Bank staff from where loans have been taken will also be questioned.”
During interrogation, it came to the fore that Kohli opened a fake company with a SIM issued in the name of Vikram Bajwa, a retired officer from the Prime Minister’s Office. He cheated farmers in the name of setting up a polyhouse.
Kohli first colluded with bank employees and later arranged loans for farmers in the name of polyhouse farming. After the loan was passed, he would get the money deposited directly into the firm’s account from the bank.
A total of 13 cases of cheating were registered against Kohli in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan.
The police said the suspect had luxury vehicles, used to stay in expensive hotels and established contacts with well-to-do people. The investigating officer, DSP Prahlad Rai, said bank employees were also under the scanner.
Multi-crore polyhouse loan scam mastermind lands in police net
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