Three held on chargeof cheating bank

Panigrahi Ganapathi Holwa and his wife Leela of KL Puram in Vizianagaram pledged fake property documents and availed a loan of Rs.6.25 lakh from the Allahabad Bank in 2006.

Mahesh, ACP of South (centre), presenting the accused in a bank fraud case before the media in Visakhapatnam on Sunday. -Photo: A. Manikanta Kumar

Three persons, including a couple, were arrested by the city police on the charge of cheating a bank.

Panigrahi Ganapathi Holwa and his wife Leela of KL Puram in Vizianagaram pledged fake property documents and availed a loan of Rs.6.25 lakh from the Allahabad Bank in 2006. Their friend, Mohd. Zakir Hussain, who is an employee of Naval Dockyard, stood surety for the loan, according to Assistant Commissioner of Police (East) D.N. Mahesh.

The couple failed to repay even a single instalment and the interest thereupon despite several notices by the bank. The bank officials realised recently that the couple had submitted fake documents to avail the loan. They lodged a complaint with the Two Town (Maharanipeta Zone) Police.

Inspector R. Mallikarjuna Rao arrested the trio and during the course of inquiry came to know that the three accused were involved in a similar case of cheating the Karnataka Bank at Shantipuram under Fourth Town Police Station limits in the past.