LUCKNOW, April 12 -- The UP Special Task Force (STF) arrested a deputy branch manager of Union Bank of India from Delhi for allegedly masterminding a large-scale fraud involving forged documents and fake beneficiaries under the Prime Minister's loan scheme, officials said on Saturday. According to a press note issued by the STF headquarters in Lucknow on Saturday, the accused has been identified as Nitin Chaudhary, posted as deputy branch manager at the Kalyanpur branch in Kanpur Nagar. The STF said Chaudhary was arrested from Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, on Friday, at around 11:20 pm, following sustained surveillance and technical investigation. Investigators alleged that the accused, in connivance with others, used forged KYC documents, fake firm papers, fabricated loan files and forged signatures to fraudulently sanction loans worth crores of rupees in the names of unsuspecting people and shell entities under government-backed loan schemes. During the arrest, the STF recovered one mobile phone, two Aadhaar cards, two credit cards, one metro card and Rs.2,660 in cash. The action follows a complaint lodged by Raj Bahadur Gupta, a resident of Bijnor, who alleged that a loan had been fraudulently issued in his name without his knowledge. Gupta told investigators that several months after receiving repeated calls regarding loan repayment, he discovered that a loan account had been opened using forged documents. Based on the complaint, an STF team launched an investigation and found that a well-organised racket was operating to cheat people. Officials said preliminary findings suggest that the gang may have fraudulently processed loans in the names of around 100 people, siphoning off substantial amounts. htc...