STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Crime Branch (CB) on Saturday booked 15 accused including two gold appraisers in bank loan scam in which accused got huge loans from Canara Bank against security of spurious/impure gold items of weight less than purported figures and did not repay the EMIs.
“Regional Manager, Canara Bank, Jammu filed two written complaints with CB against Rajnesh Thapa, son of Rashpal Chand, resident of Bari Brahmana, Samba, Munish Thapa, son of Kuldeep Kumar Thapa, resident of Kartholi, Jammu, Deepak Kumar, son of Bharat Ram, resident of Bari Brahmana, Samba, Sumit Singh, son of Raj Kumar Chouhan, resident of Nanak Nagar, Jammu, Madhu Singh, wife of Sumit Singh, resident of Nanak Nagar, Jammu, Jyoti Devi, wife of Kewal Krishan, resident of Nanak Nagar, Jammu, Bandana Devi, daughter of Subash Chander, resident of Pekhari, District Samba, Rahat Iqbal Goni, son of Javed Iqbal Goni, resident of Bhaderwah, District Doda, Ayush Singh, son of Amit Singh, resident of Nanak Nagar Jammu, Veena Kumari, wife of Brij Mohan Sharma, resident of Narwal Bala, Jammu, Navdeep Sharma, son of Brij Mohan Sharma, resident of Narwal Bala, Jammu, Amit Mahajan, son of Vijay Kumar Mahajan, resident of Nanak Nagar, Jammu, Pooja Chouhan, wife of Amit Singh, resident of Nanak Nagar, Jammu, Kewal Krishan (Prop. M/S Verma Ornaments), son of Mulkh Raj, resident of Narwal Bala, Jammu (Gold Valuer) and Deepak Dhallam (Prop. M/S Deepak Jewellers), son of Romesh Chander, resident of Bishnah (Gold Valuer),” the CB official said.
Official added, “It was alleged in the complaints that the above mentioned persons on different dates approached the Canara Bank, Gangyal Branch for grant of OD Limit and Term Loan facilities against the deposit of the gold which was a scheme prevalent and floated by the Bank for giving benefits to the various customers having the gold items and availed the loan against the security of the said gold items.” The accused persons offered to pledge different gold ornaments as security for the repayment of their respective loans amounting to the tune of Rs.40 Lakhs (approx.) for Canara Bank, Branch Gangyal which were proposed to be sanctioned to the said accused persons, official said adding that on the receipt of the aforesaid gold items from the accused M/S Verma Ornaments, Gold Valuer who was an approved valuer (Gold Appraiser) of the bank for assessing the gold items, was called in the office of the complainant at Canara Bank, Gangyal Branch on different dates to assess the weight of the aforesaid gold items to verify the genuineness and purity of the same.
The accused M/S Verma Ornaments Prop Kewal Krishan on different dates issued certificates certifying the gross and net weight of the gold items in the shape of gold ornaments submitted by the accused persons as security for their respective loan accounts, CB official said adding that the aforesaid certificates were issued under his stamp in presence of the accused persons.
On the strength of the aforesaid certificates, official said, the Canara Bank at Gangyal Branch had processed the cases and sanctioned loan to the accused persons as per the sanctioned terms and the amount was also disbursed and credited in the accounts of accused persons on different dates which was to be repaid along with interest.
“The accused persons failed to maintain the financial discipline and could not service the EMIs in time and defaulted in making the payment. Subsequently, several requests were made by the complainant Bank through its Manager Gangyal Branch to make the payment but the accused persons did not make the payment,” Official said.
It is a routine of the Bank to get the Gold verified (Reappraised) on quarterly basis and in this regard, the said branch of Canara Bank got the gold items verified including the gold items of all the accused persons, but to the surprise of the complainant Bank, it was found that the net weight of the gold items submitted by the accused persons were way less than the figures given by the accused, official added.
It appeared that the Kewal Krishan (Gold Valuer) (Prop. M/S Verma Ornaments), son of Mulkh Raj, near PNB Narwal Bala, Jammu and Deepak Dhallam (Prop. M/S Deepak Jewellers), son of Romesh Chander, resident of H.No.103, W.No.10 Bishnah (Gold Valuer) Gold Valuers in connivance with the accused persons had hatched the criminal conspiracy to commit fraud by getting the credit facilities in the form of Term Loan and OD Limit from the Canara Bank by depositing the spurious/impure Gold items which had been verified as pure Gold items by the aforesaid Gold Valuers.
Senior Superintendent of Police Crime Jammu Benam Tosh confirmed that FIR 13/2025 has been registered and indepth investigation started as the contents of the complaints and preliminary verification report prima-facie revealed commission of cognizable offence.
