Pune Fraud Case Claims A Life: Victim Dies By Suicide After Months Of Struggle
Kharadi, 15th July 2023: Prabhat Ranjan, an IT professional from Kharadi, took his own life nearly five months after the closure of Ashtavinayak Investment’s office in Pune’s Nucleus Mall. The company stands accused of defrauding over 200 investors out of approximately Rs 300 crore.
Ranjan, who was one of the victims, had borrowed Rs 88 lakh from six banks and invested it with Selva Nadar’s Ashtavinayak Investment in June 2021. However, his life took a downward spiral when he lost his job in December 2022, leaving him struggling to repay monthly EMIs of Rs 1.82 lakh to the banks.
Adding to his woes, Ranjan was also cheated out of Rs 15 lakh between July 2021 and March 2023 by a relative who claimed to invest the money in a business, providing forged bills and cheques as false evidence. To make matters worse, this month, a friend bought his Mercedes car for Rs 7.5 lakh but only paid him Rs 3 lakh.
On Thursday at 3:45 am, Ranjan ended his life at Yin Yang Society in Kharadi, where he resided with his wife Neha Gupta and their ten-year-old twin daughters. A two-page suicide note was discovered, in which he held the people who defrauded him responsible for his devastating decision.
The Chandannagar police have taken action, registering a case against Selva Nadar, former Ashtavinayak manager Prasad Shinde, relative Sachin Kumar (a resident of Patna, Bihar), and friend Ajinkya Lokhande (a resident of Wanworie) under sections 306 (abetment of suicide) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. The complaint was filed by Ranjan’s elder brother Rajeev Ranjan, who resides in Ranchi. Rajeev stated, “He was feeling depressed due to the series of fraudulent incidents that occurred in his life. He called me on July 12, expressing his fear. I assured him that I would come to Pune to support him. Unfortunately, on the morning of July 13, I received a devastating call from his friend.”
Ranjan was among the more than 200 individuals allegedly victimized by Ashtavinayak Investment’s “profile investor” scheme, which is currently under investigation by the Pune police’s Economic Offences Wing.
According to the police, Nadar and his associates targeted individuals with high salaries and good credit records, enticing them with the “profile investor” scheme. The firm procured personal loans in the investors’ names from multiple banks simultaneously. These funds were then invested in Nadar’s company, which promised lucrative returns and assured timely repayment of EMIs. However, the loan amounts disbursed far exceeded the clients’ eligibility and repayment capacity, leading to financial ruin for many innocent victims.
