Facial Recognition Tech leads to arrest of impostor

New Delhi: Using an advanced Facial Recognition System (FRS), the Delhi Police has arrested three people who secured a loan of Rs 75 lakh by mortgage a property by preparing forged documents, officials said on Wednesday.

The police arrested Pankaj Sachdeva alias Roshan Manchanda (61), who had fabricated property documents and identification credentials to secure the loan. The arrest also exposed the involvement of two accomplices, Suhail Chauhan and Nitin Verma, who worked as freelance loan agents. According to the police, the case was registered in 2019 on the complaint of Harminder Kaur Anand, a Bengaluru-based resident, who alleged that the property she purchased in 2011 at Rana Pratap Bagh in northwest Delhi had been fraudulently mortgaged to a private bank for a loan of Rs 75 lakh.

"The woman was shocked to learn about the fraud during a visit to the property in 2018 when neighbours reported suspicious activities and her son-in-law discovered a loan notice pasted on the property," Deputy Commissioner of Police (northwest) Abhishek Dhania said.

The officer further said that the fraudsters had prepared forged documents to mortgage the property and availed the loan subsequently diverting the funds to multiple accounts under fake identities. The gang specifically targeted long-vacant properties, creating a chain of fake documents to establish ownership. They then used these forged papers to secure loans from financial institutions.