Bengaluru, July 17 : The Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday (CBI) successfully traced and arrested Mani M. Sekhar, a long-absconding proclaimed offender in a bank fraud case of Rs 8 crore. The accused had changed her name, identity and relocated to Indore in Madhya Pradesh.

Currently, the accused is facing trial after absconding for nearly two decades, an official statement by the CBI mentioned.

With photo matching levels of more than 90 per cent, the image search tools enabled accurate identification despite their assumed identities, the CBI said.

The case was registered at CBI, Bengaluru on August 1, 2006, against accused persons including Ramanujam Muthuramalingam Sekhar a.k.a. R.M. Sekhar, MD, M/s Indo Marks Pvt. Ltd. and his wife Mani M. Sekhar, Director, M/s Indo Marks & BTC Home Products Pvt. Ltd.

The case was filed against them for having entered into a criminal conspiracy during the period 2002 to 2005 and thereby fraudulently cheating State Bank of India (SBI), Overseas Branch, Bengaluru to the tune of Rs 8 crore through the misuse of non-fund-based limits in the name of M/s Indo Marks Pvt. Ltd. and its sister concerns.

After completion of the investigation, the charge sheet in the case was filed on December 10, 2007.

Both the accused, namely Ramanujam Muthuramalingam Sekhar a.k.a. R.M. Sekhar and his wife Mani M. Sekhar failed to join the trial or respond to summons and warrants.

Subsequently, they were declared proclaimed offenders on February 27, 2009.

Despite sustained efforts over the years to trace them, these absconding accused had remained untraceable, prompting CBI to announce a reward of Rs 50,000 each for clues to informers.

While other co-accused were tried and convicted and acquitted in the case, the trial against these two absconding accused remained pending.

The accused persons had changed their identities and never used the old KYC details. They changed their names to Krishna Kumar Gupta and Geetha Krishna Kumar Gupta.

Their mobile numbers, emails, PAN numbers and other information which were used before the chargesheet was filed were also changed.

The CBI leveraged advanced analytical capabilities of Image Search to track the digital footprints of these absconders.

The image comparison and analysis tools led to the identification of these two accused living under changed names and identities in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.

Acting on this match, a team of CBI officers, after meticulous field verification, successfully traced the accused to Indore, Madhya Pradesh, where they were living under assumed identities.

It was revealed during the search operation that one accused Ramanujam Muthuramalingam Sekhar aka R.M. Sekhar had already passed away in 2008.

The other accused, Mani M. Sekhar, was finally arrested on July 12, 2025 and produced before the Court in Bengaluru who remanded the accused to judicial custody for further trial proceedings.

The CBI further stated: "This case is a classic example of how technology-driven platforms, when combined with the dedicated efforts of investigating officers on ground can significantly enhance law enforcement agency's capability to trace and apprehend long-absconding offenders."

/IANS