New Delhi, 21 July

The CBI has arrested a woman named Nasreen Taj, a proclaimed offender in an alleged bank fraud case, who vanished like a phantom into the sprawling Cityscape for nearly six years under an assumed identity, officials said on Monday.

Bringing a dramatic close to the pursuit, the CBI arrested Nasreen from Bengaluru, who was living there under the name of Salma after severing contact with her spouse, family members, and social network, frequently changing residences, they said.

"She misled the residents as well as her employer about her real identity and maintained minimal interaction with locals, further hindering the efforts to trace her," a CBI spokesperson said in a statement.

After a year-long investigation, the CBI submitted its chargesheet on 12 October, 2010, accusing Nasreen of acting in collusion with her husband, Asadullah Khan, who was part of a conspiracy involving eight other accused to cheat Syndicate Bank to the tune of Rs 12.63 crore.

The investigation revealed that Nasreen, despite having no independent income, fraudulently availed of a temporary overdraft (TOD) facility of up to Rs 1.20 crore, in addition to farm loans amounting to Rs 55 lakh, from Syndicate Bank.

The CBI alleged that the farm loans were illicitly diverted by her towards the repayment of the TOD, instead of utilising them for agricultural development, as mandated under the terms of the sanction.

The agency alleged that Nasreen did not join the investigation, prompting the court to declare her a proclaimed offender on 27 November, 2021, and attach her property.

While the other co-accused were tried, convicted, and acquitted in the case, the trial against the absconding accused remained pending, she said.

Deploying advanced technological tools and identity-tracking databases, the investigators analysed her digital footprints, she said. Using tech-driven intelligence, combined with extensive field investigations and on-the-ground inquiries, the CBI located her in City.

Nasreen was arrested on 19 July and produced before a special court in Bengaluru, which sent her to judicial custody for facing the trial.