The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Mani M. Shekhar, a fugitive accused in an ₹8 crore bank fraud case, nearly 17 years after she was declared an absconder. The accused had changed her name and identity to avoid detection and carried a reward of ₹50,000.
The case was originally registered on August 1, 2006, at CBI BSFB Bengaluru against Ramanujam Muthuramalingam Shekhar alias R.M. Shekhar, Managing Director of Indo Marks Pvt. Ltd., and Mani M. Shekhar, Director of Indo Marks and BTC Home Products Pvt. Ltd., among others. They were accused of defrauding the State Bank of India, Overseas Branch, Bengaluru, by misusing non-fund-based limits between 2002 and 2005 through a criminal conspiracy.
A chargesheet was filed on December 10, 2007, but both accused—husband and wife—evaded court summons and warrants. The court declared them proclaimed offenders on February 27, 2009. While co-accused faced trial and were either convicted or acquitted, these two remained at large.
To escape detection, the couple adopted new identities—Krishna Kumar Gupta and Geeta Krishna Kumar Gupta—and changed their contact numbers, email addresses, PAN numbers, and other identifiers before the chargesheet was filed. The CBI used advanced image search and comparison tools to track their digital footprints, eventually tracing them to Indore, Madhya Pradesh, where they had been living under false identities.
Upon verification, it was found that Ramanujam Shekhar had died in 2008 under his assumed identity. However, Mani M. Shekhar was located and arrested on July 12, 2025. She was produced before a Bengaluru court and remanded to judicial custody for further proceedings.
This arrest demonstrates the increasing effectiveness of technology-aided investigations combined with persistent on-ground efforts to bring long-absconding criminals to justice.
