ED raids Bharat Papers Ltd in Ludhiana in connection with Rs 200 crore bank fraud

Chandigarh: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) team conducted a raid on Wednesday at Bharat Papers Limited in Ludhiana, Punjab, following a reported fraud of Rs 200 crore with banks. Raids are ongoing in multiple states, including 9 locations in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh.

In September 2006, Bharat Papers Limited (BPL) commenced operations in the paperboard packaging industry in Jammu and Ludhiana. The company’s directors, Rajinder Kumar, Praveen Kumar, Baljinder Singh, Anil Kumar, and Anil Kashyap, are accused of orchestrating a fraudulent scheme defrauding several banks of approximately Rs 200 crore. The investigation into this case is currently underway.

On November 11, 2022, the CBI arrested Pravin Agarwal and Anil Kumar, former directors of Bharat Papers Limited, from Kathua, Jammu, in connection with a bank embezzlement case.

They were accused of orchestrating a scam involving a loan of Rs 87.88 crore from SBI Bank’s Ludhiana branch, with alleged connivance of officials. The arrests were based on this case.

CBI officials stated that a case was registered in 2020 against Bharat Papers Mills and its managing director, directors, among others, following a complaint from the State Bank of India branch in Ludhiana.

The then-directors, Anil Kumar and Pravin Agarwal, were arrested in connection with the same case. Bharat Paper Mill is reportedly situated on 400 kanals of land in Langate, Kathua.