Decades-Long Manhunt Ends: CBI Arrests Fugitive in Rs 8 Crore Bank Fraud Case

The CBI successfully arrested Mani M. Sekhar in Indore for an Rs 8 crore bank fraud after nearly two decades. She and her husband fraudulently secured loans, then vanished. CBI's advanced analytics led to her capture. Her husband had died under a false name. She now faces trial.

In a major breakthrough, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) successfully apprehended Mani M. Sekhar, a fugitive for nearly two decades, involved in a Rs 8 crore bank fraud case. The arrest occurred in Indore, where Sekhar was living under an assumed identity, according to CBI officials.

Sekhar, along with her husband Ramanujam Muthuramalingam Sekhar, was initially chargesheeted in Bengaluru in 2007 for using deceit and fraudulent documentation to misappropriate loan funds from the State Bank of India through their companies, Indo Marks Pvt. Ltd. and BTC Home Products Pvt. Ltd. Despite efforts to capture them, the duo disappeared, prompting a special court to declare them proclaimed offenders in 2009.

The CBI, utilizing sophisticated image search analytics with nearly 90 percent accuracy, confirmed Sekhar's identity and location leading to her arrest. It was discovered that the couple had assumed new identities as Mr. and Mrs. Krishna Kumar Gupta. However, her husband had died in 2008 while in hiding. Sekhar was taken into custody on July 12, with trial proceedings set to continue.

(With inputs from agencies.)