Four employees of two banks were arrested in connection with a land fraud case in Surat district in Gujarat.
Police said the bank employees helped open mule bank accounts that were used in the fraud worth Rs 5.75 crore.
The accused were identified as Sandeepkumar Piludariya and Azad Khan, both sales officers at Yes Bank’s Ankleshwar branch in Bharuch, Shivani Patel, a relationship manager at Yes Bank, and Yagnik Vaghasia, an executive officer at IDBI Bank’s Ghoddod Road branch in Surat.
Police also arrested SIM card distributor Sanjay Dhandukhiya for allegedly helping them obtain a SIM card that was used in the fraud.
Officials of the Surat Economic Offence Wing said the five accused were arrested after the earlier arrest of a real estate broker, Ravi Koladiya, from Surat.
According to police, Koladiya, a resident of Kapodara, executed a sale deed for agricultural land at Kathor village in Surat on behalf of Piyushkumar Saspara, another Kapodara resident. The land deal was worth Rs 5.75 crore and was carried out through a power of attorney.
The land belonged to Salim Sidat, his sisters Faridabibi Sidat and Khatija Sidat, who are residents of Kathor and are currently living in Canada.
Police said Saspara paid Rs 4.81 crore through cheques in 2025, while the remaining amount was paid in cash to Koladiya.
Investigators said Koladiya conspired with Yes Bank employees in Ankleshwar and opened three mule bank accounts in the names of Salim, Khatija and Farida using fake documents. Cheques received from Saspara were deposited into these accounts.
Police said the three landowners were in Canada at the time and were not present in Ankleshwar when the bank accounts were opened. Koladiya allegedly forged their signatures to open the accounts.
Police said Koladiya later withdrew Rs 2.80 crore and sent the money to the landowners living in Canada.
Using the same method, he allegedly opened three more bank accounts at IDBI Bank’s Ghoddod Road branch in Surat by forging the landowners’ signatures. The remaining Rs 2.96 crore was deposited into these accounts and later withdrawn.
Saspara later filed a cheating complaint against Koladiya after he allegedly failed to prepare the final sale deed documents.
In his complaint, Saspara said he had agreed to purchase three blocks of agricultural land for Rs 13.27 crore and had already paid Rs 5.75 crore as advance payment to Koladiya.
Surat Additional Commissioner of Police Karanraj Vaghela said, “For the first time in a land fraud case, we have arrested four bank employees. We have also arrested SIM card seller Sanjay Dhandhukiya, who provided the SIM card used to open the bank accounts.”
Attempts to contact officials of both bank branches for comment were unsuccessful.
➡️ Bank Loan EMI Calculator: Calculate EMI for Home Loan, Car Loan, Gold Loan, Business Loan
