KNB NEWS DESK
SRINAGAR 14 Jan (KNB): The alleged nexus between Mehraj udin Yatoo and some bank officials is under radar of Police, Crime Branch and the newly formed State Investigation Agency, that reports terror cases to National Investigation Agency NIA.
Mehraj is being alleged of duping people, more than a dozen in number.
“We are Investigating all angles, from complainants, bank officials and the accused, all are being checked into,” an official privy to case said.
The alleged mastermind:
Mehraj u din Yatoo, 40, from Rawathpora area of posh Bagahat locality in Srinagar is the centre focus of the investigation. An under matric, who started his career as a tea stall vendor and moved up to create a registered company. His wife, Ishrat, was alleged Director of the company.
The couple would in the years would forge deep criminal nexus with bank officials to dupe and use bank accounts of gullible people.
“How were the transactions let go, without account holders information, is a big question in investigation,” an official said. “What, how and in what forms did this relationship work, and after all, where is the money.”
“Mehraj began from as tea and pakoda vendor for several years at habba kadal Srinagar during early nineties. He then begun to work as an auto driver for couple of years ,where from he started transporting sheep of a local butcher of rawathpora baght to the such places where the butcher needs to give delivery of meat, ” sources confided.
“He was then fired out by the said butcher when once he found that he had stolen a sheep from him during a delivery to pulwama and sold that sheep to someone else,” another officer looking into case said adding, this seems his ‘first fraud’.
The accused would go on to work as a sumo driver after couple of years but ‘all of sudden he starting introducing himself as a managing director of RP tourism infrastructures & contractors private limited company’ & ‘his wife ishrat as the Director of the said company.’
The said company was duly registered during the year 2015 Under CIN number U74999JK2015PTC004358 & registration no 004358.
This is where the wife, Ishrat comes into the picture, officer said, adding workings and dealings of the company will be checked as well.
“The said company was existing in papers only in order to dope people,” complainants argue.
Investigation has so far questioned some of the bank officials who held responsibility at Amira Kadal branch, including some bank officials.
Some of the victims recently protested in Press Enclave Srinagar. They alleged that there exists a nexus between him and bank officials. ‘Otherwise, how can there be bank accounts existing in our name, without us even knowing. Even loans have been granted to those accounts, this can’t be one mans doing, their must be others involved, ” they accused.
While protesters claimed the total amount fraudulently taken from people is approximately Rs 80 crores, the actual figure is yet to be ascertained.
In 2015, Adil a resident of Nowgam joined Parvaiz Enterprises, a shop where spare parts of cars were sold. “I joined Parvaiz Enterprises as a salesman and I was paid a salary of 8 thousand rupees” he says.
After sometime, Adil noticed a man coming frequently to the shop and spending time with the owner of the shop. As time passed he came to know the visitor was Branch head J&K Bank Amira Kadal Branch.
“He used to spend a lot of time there” Adil recalls.
One day proper tier of the shop Mehrajjudin Yatoo told Adil that he wanted open a Bank Account for me for my monetary help. Unaware of his ill intentions Adil opened a Bank Account and was handed all the stuff including cheque book at moment.
“I was not aware about his reality and I handed over everything there instantly”.
Adil after passing of some many years thought everything was hunky dory. In September 2021, Adil burst into tears when he received a notice from J&K Bank that had a loan 1.22 crore in an Over Draft Account.
Shocked by the development, Adil went to the proper tier Mehrajjudin who had changed the name of his business venture to R P Tourism.
“I went to his office and he told me that he had taken a loan in my name and will repay it till December. He forced me to sign some papers and since then is absconding”.
After that I started going to his house and during that process I came to know that he has robbed more than 20 people in the same way. He had five salesmen and he looted all of us, alleges Asif.
“He owes me salary from last two years and I am left with nothing.” (KNB)