New Delhi, August 27
Amarendra Nath Ghosh, accused of swindling several nationalised banks to the tune of Rs 27.69 crore, was brought back to India in a special plane today from Munich after Germany cleared his extradition.

The CBI has managed his extradition after a five-year legal battle. Germany granted the extradition of the 45-year-old Ghosh in April, 2003. But to prevent his extradition, Ghosh swallowed a 10-cm knife and declined to undergo surgery.

German authorities that had earlier prevented CBI from taking Ghosh on the ground that the knife lodged in his stomach could prove dangerous, gave their consent after the government agreed to their request that he should be brought to India in a special plane under strict supervision of surgeons.

The CBI team of three officers along with two surgeons and an anaesthetist flew down to Munich in an “air ambulance”, equipped with medicines and surgical equipment, and brought Ghosh back to India.

Ghosh is accused of cheating Allahabad Bank, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, United Bank of India and Andhra Bank, all of Kolkata, to the tune of Rs 27.69 crore in collusion with others in 1994-95.

Seven charge sheets were filed against him and other accused persons in four cases, in the court of First Special Court, Alipore, Kolkata, for criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, cheating, falsification of accounts and criminal misconduct punishable under various sections of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act.

According to the CBI, the fraud was committed by Ghosh and others in collusion with bank officials, in several ways like drawing overdraft facilities by pledging fake and forged collateral securities; sanction of loans out of foreign remittances received by the bank, without the knowledge of the depositors, by preparing forged documents; issue of banker’s cheques by falsely showing debit from non-existent non-resident external/ non-resident non-repartriable accounts; honouring inward clearing cheques without sufficient balance in the accounts and issue of Banker’s cheques without any remittances.

Ghosh had fled to Germany in 2001 and he was declared a “proclaimed offender” by the Alipore court on February 5, 2002. An open non-bailable warrant of arrest was issued against him on May 3, 2002.