Digital trail of bank fraud leads CBI to fugitive woman after 7 yrs

For nearly seven years, she lived a quiet, shadowed life in Bengaluru — known as Salma, a soft-spoken woman who kept to herself, never drew attention, and never looked back. But on July 19, her past finally knocked on her door.AdvertisementThe Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Nasreen Taj, a proclaimed offender in a Rs 12.63 crore Syndicate Bank fraud case, ending a nearly decade-long cat-and-mouse chase that spanned identities, cities, and digital footprints.Taj, once the wife of a bank manager in Karnataka, vanished in 2019 after being named in a high-profile CBI chargesheet. She had no job, no independent income — but in 2009, she managed to fraudulently secure massive loans with the help of her husband, Asadullah Khan, then the branch manager of Syndicate Bank in Mandya. According to CBI officials, the couple together availed a Rs 1.2 crore temporary overdraft and farm loans worth Rs 55 lakh. But the funds never went into farming. Instead, they were funneled back to repay the overdraft — an elaborate financial sleight-of-hand that left the bank with crores in losses. While her co-accused faced trial — some convicted, some acquitted — Taj simply vanished. By 2021, the court had declared her a proclaimed offender and ordered her properties attached. But there were no clues, no sightings. She had seemingly disappeared. Behind the scenes, however, the CBI hadn’t stopped looking.”She cut all ties with her family. She moved frequently. She created a whole new identity. She was cautious — so cautious she barely spoke to neighbours. She didn’t even leave a digital trail… or so she thought,” a senior CBI officer said. CBI investigators quietly tracked remnants of her online activity, sifted through databases, cross-verified names, and launched field inquiries. A sliver of digital footprint led them to a low-profile woman in Bengaluru. The name was different. But the mannerisms, the movements, the gaps — they matched. The woman calling herself Salma was indeed Nasreen Taj.She was arrested without drama. Her quiet, elusive life came to an end in a flash of handcuffs. She was presented before a special court in Bengaluru and has since been sent to judicial custody.