Ludhiana industrialist held for Rs 1,531-cr fraud

Ludhiana, October 28

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a leading industrialist of Ludhiana in an ongoing investigation of a case related to bank fraud amounting to Rs 1,530.99 crore, a senior officer has said.

Neeraj Saluja, director of SEL Textiles Ltd., was arrested by the agency after registering an FIR over two years ago, the CBI has confirmed.

A senior officer involved in the investigation told The Tribune on Friday that the CBI had registered the case on August 6, 2020, against the private company based in Ludhiana and others including its directors, unknown public servants and private persons on the allegations of bank fraud.

“It was alleged that the accused, including a private company and its directors, had cheated the consortium of 10 banks, led by the Central Bank of India, causing a fraud of Rs 1,530.99 crore,” she disclosed.

The officer said it was further alleged that huge amounts of bank loans were diverted by the accused to its related parties and subsequently adjustment entries were made.

The private company, which was based at Ludhiana and was having its units at Malout and Nawanshahr in Punjab, Nemrana in Rajasthan and Hansi in Haryana, was into the business of manufacturing yarns and fabrics.

Searches were earlier conducted on the premises of the accused, which had led to recovery of several incriminating documents.

“Lookout circulars (LOCs) against the accused had been issued and during the investigation, the CBI had examined several persons,” the investigating officer said, while adding that the company’s director was found to be evasive in his replies. The arrested accused will be produced before the special CBI court in Mohali tomorrow.