A man accused of defrauding thousands of people in Maharashtra to the tune of ₹300 crores has been arrested by police in Mathura. The accused had been hiding as a 'sage' in the holy city to evade arrest. According to the police, he took on the disguise to stay hidden. Reports from a news agency revealed that Baban Vishwanath Shinde was arrested near the Krishna Balaram temple in a joint operation by the Vrindavan police and a team from Beed district. Shinde was wanted in multiple cases involving fraud amounting to nearly ₹300 crores. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Sandeep Kumar Singh explained that Shinde had defrauded hundreds of people. To avoid capture, he roamed various places like Delhi, Assam, Nepal, and several districts in Uttar Pradesh, all while disguised as a sage. His latest hiding spot was found in Vrindavan.

Arrest Details

Shinde was arrested late Tuesday night and presented before the Chief Judicial Magistrate the following day. The arrest was made after a team from Beed district's crime branch obtained a transit remand from a Mathura court.

How the Fraud Was Conducted

According to Sub-Inspector S.S. Murkute, a member of the special investigation team led by Beed SSP Avinash Bargal, Shinde lured people with promises of high interest on their deposits. He persuaded them to invest their money in four branches of a cooperative bank in the state. Murkute mentioned that the fraud also involved properties purchased using the stolen funds. "Shinde’s fraudulent activities destroyed the lives of more than 2,000 people," Murkute added, highlighting the vast impact of the scam. The arrest marks a significant development in the investigation of a scam that devastated thousands of victims, and the authorities are continuing their efforts to recover the embezzled funds.