A poor ‘crorepati’ battles the system
“During 2006-08, Agrawal with the help of Sunil Agrawal, a CA, opened 446 benami bank accounts in the name of poor villagers… none of the account holders came to the bank in person…the drivers, mason, paan vendors, farm labourers, carpenters, milk vendors denied opening or operating t he accounts,” ED statement reads.
The case was first investigated by the state economic offence wing (EOW), then the ED and now the matter has been transferred to the Chhattisgarh police. At each stage, villagers say they were called. “We are facing trouble…. everyone thinks we are thieves when police come to our homes,” said Guhe Ram, a farmer.
Both BL Agrawal and Sunil Agarwal are out on bail and deny the charges. “The case is in court and I don’t know about the case registered by the Raipur police. I am not related to Kharora or the case registered by the police,” said BL Agrawal. Police said the FIR didn’t name him because the money-laundering section was being probed separately by the ED. Sunil Agrawal could not be contacted for a comment.
The police admit that the villagers have battled a tough time without committing any crime.
“We understand their pain and the problems but we are working as per law… the residents of Kharora are the witnesses of the crime hence there statement was taken,” said additional superintendent of police (Raipur) Vijay Agarwal.
The ASP added that the matter is yet to be heard by the court. “We will put up the challan and then the witnesses will be again called by the court, which is the process which everyone will have to follow. Everything is going as per the law.”
But Babulal doesn’t understand such processes. He alleges that Sunil Agarwal, who was a trader in Kharora, asked him for some documents to get a PAN card made. “I thought PAN card is important and hence gave it but later came to know that they opened fake accounts in my name,” he said.
Others said every time they are summoned, they have to spend ₹300 travelling to Raipur – a big sum in one of India’s most under-developed regions.
“We will demand compensation in future…the torture we have faced is immense,” said Tikeshwar Pansari, a small grocery shop owner.
But deep down, they know that the hard times will continue because the case is now in court. The police have told villagers that they would need to come to court at least twice, a number that could easily go up if the case dragged on. “We know we will be called by the court. We are trapped now,” said Baburam.