Bad to verse: Poet held in Mumbai for duping four banks of ₹20 lakh

The Sion police have arrested a 52-year-old man – a prolific online writer and poet – who allegedly cheated four nationalised banks of Rs5 lakh each on the pretext of buying a van.

According to the police, Sunil Rajaram Pawar, a resident of Pratiksha Nagar in Sion, applied for loans at four banks for the same vehicle – a Maruti Eeco – and managed to get them sanctioned with the help of an employee of a car dealership. Pawar was arrested on Sunday after a manager at Syndicate Bank learnt about the alleged fraud.

A writer of prose and poetry, Pawar has written several pieces in Marathi that are available online and has also contributed to Marathi newspapers about various topics, including the drought in Marathwada. Among his online works is an 87-part series titled ‘Abhagyacha Bhagya’ (‘Fate of the Unfortunate’).

An officer from Sion police station said, “Pawar had been living in a rented apartment in Pratiksha Nagar with his wife and two children and wanted to buy a house of his own. We believe this is what motivated his crimes. He involved an employee of a car dealership by asking him to submit fake ownership documents to the banks.”

When dealership employee agreed to participate in the crime, Pawar applied for loans from Syndicate Bank, Dena bank, Dhanlaxmi Bank and Karnataka Bank simultaneously for the Maruti Eeco.

“Bank officials approached the dealership employee and after his confirmation, sanctioned the loans in the store’s name. The employee then submitted fake ownership documents of the vehicle with all four banks,” added the police officer.

The alleged con came to light when a manager at Syndicate Bank was checking a list of loan defaulters. Suspecting something was amiss, he asked Pawar to report to the bank with the car and its ownership documents.

The police officer said, “Pawar kept ignoring the bank official, who then checked his history and learnt that he had applied for a loan for a vehicle with the same registration number at other banks as well. He came to the police station and registered a complaint.”

The police waited for Pawar outside his home and soon arrested him. They named the dealership employee as an absconder.

Pawar was booked for cheating and other crimes under the Indian Penal Code. He was produced in a Bhoiwada court on Wednesday and remanded in police custody.

According to the police, Pawar earned Rs15,000 to Rs 20,000 a month doing odd jobs at a private firm, and writing was his hobby. They said his wife works as a saleswoman and the couple have a college-age daughter and son in school.