Rashtriya Bhim Sena chief booked for 2nd time in a month

The RCF police in Chembur have arrested Rashtriya Bhim Sena party chief RR Pandian and his bank manager for a second time in a month, in connection with another cheating case. Earlier, he was arrested for cheating 39 investors to the tune of Rs 1.11 crore under the 'Apna Ghar' scheme. During the course of investigations in two cases, the police have sealed around 26 flats and 8 bank accounts owned by him. Around eight victims were cheated to a tune of Rs 6, 50,700.

Senior police inspector Balasaheb Ghavate of RCF police station confirmed the arrest of Pandian and his accomplice Suresh Rathod. “Both of them were arrested on March 28. They were produced in court and remanded to police custody till April 1,” he said, adding that their custody and remand were taken over from the Arthur Road jail as they were lodged there.

“The complainant, identified as Panvel resident Sanjay Patil, claimed he found The Blue People Co-op Credit Society bank through a friend in August 2021. He approached their Sanpada office to secure a loan of Rs 45 lakh. He was asked to provide income tax returns and other documents and purchase shares worth Rs 2,65, 700 from the bank, which would be refunded in a year. Patil was also asked to bring along five guarantees and Rs 1,000 was to be paid for each one,” said a police officer.

According to the officer, Patil was asked to meet Suresh Rathod – the manager in the head office at Vashi Naka in Chembur – to get the loan approved. However, Rathod asked him to provide two more asks to get two more guarantees after verifying the documents and this is when Patil got suspicious.