The Hindu : New Delhi News : ‘Swindler’ Ghosh extradited to India from Germany finally

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Wednesday, Aug 29, 2007
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New Delhi

‘Swindler’ Ghosh extradited to India from Germany finally

Devesh K. Pandey

Photo: Sandeep Saxena

Two-day remand: Accused Amarendra Nath Ghosh (centre) being produced by the CBI at Tis Hazari Courts in Delhi.

NEW DELHI: Amarendra Nath Ghosh, accused of cheating several banks of a whopping Rs. 27.69 crore, was extradited to India from Germany. He was produced in a Delhi court that handed him over to the Central Bureau of Investigation on a two-day transit remand for his production in a Kolkata court.

Ghosh was brought here from Munich onboard an “air ambulance” early on Monday morning by a team of three CBI officials, two surgeons and an anaesthesiologist. His extradition was granted by Germany in April 2003. He contested the decision in the constitutional courts there, but all his pleas were turned down.

To evade extradition, Ghosh swallowed a 10-cm-long knife and refused to undergo surgery. The German authorities finally agreed to hand him over to the CBI on the condition that he will be transported to India by an “air ambulance” in order to meet any emergency on the way.

Accordingly, the agency arranged the doctors equipped with necessary medicines and surgical equipment to bring Ghosh back.

According to a CBI release, Ghosh’s extradition and his transportation to India was made possible because of the cooperation extended by the Indian Mission in Germany and the Berlin office of Interpol.

It is alleged that during 1994-1995, Ghosh along with his accomplices cheated the Kolkata-based branches of Allahabad Bank, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, United Bank of India and Andhra Bank of Rs. 27.69 crore.

Seven charge-sheets were filed against him and the other accused in four cases in an Alipore court in Kolkata. The accused were booked for criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, cheating, falsification of accounts and criminal misconduct.

Investigations revealed that Ghosh and his accomplices, in collusion with some bank officials, had allegedly availed themselves of overdraft facility by pledging forged collateral securities, got sanctioned loans out of foreign remittances received by the bank on forged documents, got cheques issued by falsely showing debit from non-existent non-resident external/non-resident non-repatriable accounts and committed several other frauds.

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