Face2News/Bengaluru
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has successfully traced and arrested Smt. Mani M. Sekhar,a long-absconding Proclaimed Offender in a bank fraud case of Rs. 8 Crore.
The case was registered at CBI BSFB Bengaluru on 01.08.2006 against accused persons including Shri Ramanujam Muthuramalingam Sekhar @ R.M. Sekhar, MD, M/s Indo Marks Pvt. Ltd. and Smt. Mani M. Sekhar, Director, M/s Indo Marks & BTC Home Products Pvt. Ltd., for having entered into a criminal conspiracy during the period 2002 to 2005 and thereby dishonestly and fraudulently cheating State Bank of India, Overseas Branch, Bengaluru to the tune of ₹800 lakhs 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 10.12.2007. Both the accused namely Shri Ramanujam Muthuramalingam Sekhar @ R.M. Sekhar (Husband) and Smt. Mani M. Sekhar (Wife) failed to join the trial or respond to summons/warrants. Subsequently, they were declared Proclaimed Offenders vide court order dated 27.02.2009.
The CBI leveraged advanced analytical capabilities of Image Searchto 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.
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/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 (Husband) and Geetha Krishna Kumar Gupta (Wife), their mobile numbers, emails, PAN numbers and other information which were used before the chargesheet was filed.
The CBI leveraged advanced analytical capabilities of Image Searchto 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 Shri Ramanujam Muthuramalingam Sekhar @ R.M. Sekhar had already expired in 2008 (under new identity). The other accused Smt. Mani M. Sekhar was finally arrested on 12.07.2025 and produced before the Court in Bengaluru who remanded the accused to judicial custody for further trial proceedings. Presently, the accused is facing trial after absconding for nearly two decades.
With photo matching levels of more than 90%, the image search tools enabled accurate identification despite their assumed identities. 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.