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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a Proclaimed Offender, Ashutosh Pandit, director of House of Laptops (I) Pvt. Ltd., Pune, who had been absconding for several years in a major bank fraud case.
The case involves a fraud of ₹17 crore against Indian Overseas Bank, Pune. It was first registered by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in Mumbai before being transferred to the CBI in Pune, where the trial is still ongoing.
Despite continuous efforts by investigators since the charge-sheet was filed in 2013, Pandit could not be traced. After exhausting all legal procedures, he was declared a Proclaimed Offender in April 2018.
During further investigation, the CBI received crucial information through the NATGRID portal, revealing that Pandit had changed his identity. He was living under the name Yatin Sharma in Bambolim, Goa, and had managed to obtain a new PAN card, Aadhaar card, and even a passport in the fake identity. His first passport was issued in New Delhi, and after it expired, he secured another from Goa.
Acting on this intelligence, the CBI carried out a planned operation backed by technical evidence and arrested Pandit from his new residence.
The arrest ends years of attempts to locate the accused, bringing a major breakthrough in the long-pending ₹17 crore fraud case.
