The prime accused in the Rs 97 crore scam of the Ajanta Urban Cooperative Bank and former MLC, Subhash Zambad, who had been absconding for the past one and a half years, surrendered to the police on Friday.
The scam involving the embezzlement of Rs 97 crore at the Ajanta Bank came to light around one and a half years ago. The police arrested the employees and the board of directors of the bank. However, the bank chairman, Zambad, had been absconding since then. The police had launched a massive manhunt for Zambad but were unable to locate him.
In the meantime, Zambad tried to secure anticipatory bail from the sessions court and later from the High Court. However, both courts rejected his bail plea. As a last resort, he approached the Supreme Court for bail, but his plea was also rejected. With no alternatives left, he surrendered to the police on Friday morning. The police presented him before the court, and sessions judge B B Toshniwal granted him police custody until February 12.
Based on a complaint lodged by district special auditor Suresh Panditrao Kakade, the city police registered a case in the Ajanta Bank scam on October 18, 2023. The complaint mentioned that officers, employees, and the board of directors of the bank had distributed loans to individuals illegally and maintained false accounts. The embezzled amount was Rs 97.41 crore. A case was registered with the City Chowk police station.
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During the hearing, the assistant public prosecutor brought to the court's attention that out of the 36 loan proposals, the police had seized documents for 31 proposals, and the remaining five proposal files still needed to be searched. Of the 36 loan applicants, five had been identified, but the remaining 30 applicants still needed to be traced. The embezzled amount was deposited in the bank accounts of Soham Motors and Zambad Constructions, which are owned by the accused. As a result, the prosecutor requested police custody for Zambad. After the hearing, the court remanded Zambad into police custody.
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