MUMBAI: A decade after a housing project loan was sanctioned, a trail of documents, sealed deeds and vanished addresses has led Mumbai police to allege that a mortgaged property was quietly sold, leaving a lender exposed and an accused developer untraceable.
A Loan Sanctioned, Collateral Secured
In 2014, Ramakant Jadhav, a director of Karm Infrastructure, approached Motilal Oswal Finance Ltd for funding for a proposed housing project known as Karma Panchayat. The lender sanctioned a loan of ₹158.73 crore, which was disbursed into the company’s bank accounts.
To secure the borrowing, Jadhav mortgaged three properties as collateral: a 4.9-hectare land parcel at Shilottar in Thane district’s Shahapur, valued at about ₹4 crore; a 37,820-square-metre plot in Mohili village in Kalyan taluka; and another plot in Palghar. Investigators say all original property documents were deposited with the finance company, and a registered guarantee deed dated February 19, 2018, was executed to ensure repayment.
For several years, the arrangement appeared intact. It was only after the borrowers defaulted on repayments and recovery proceedings were initiated that questions over the collateral began to surface.
A Sale Discovered During Verification
According to the chargesheet, the alleged fraud came to light during a routine title verification carried out as part of the recovery process. The verification revealed that the 4.9-hectare Shilottar plot—already pledged to the lender—had been sold on March 26, 2021, for ₹58 lakh.
Police records state that the land was transferred to two buyers, Subhash Bhaskar Dagkher and Ramnath Karbhari Awhad. Documentary evidence obtained from the deputy registrar’s office confirmed that both the sale and purchase deeds were executed in accordance with the Registration Act.
What the documents also confirmed, investigators say, was that the property had been sold despite being under mortgage to Motilal Oswal Finance, a fact that formed the core allegation of cheating and breach of trust.
Chargesheet and the Clean Chit
In December 2025, Mumbai’s Dadar police filed a 500-page chargesheet before the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Fifth Court, at Sewri. The police accused Jadhav of cheating the lender by selling mortgaged property that was meant to remain as collateral against the housing project loan.
While Jadhav, as director of Karm Infrastructure, was named in the case, police granted a clean chit to his partner, Ketan Patel, stating that evidence did not indicate his involvement in the alleged transaction. Investigators also sought the court’s permission to file a supplementary chargesheet once the absconding accused is arrested.
An Accused Declared Absconding
As the investigation progressed, police attempted to serve notices under Section 41(1)(a) of the Criminal Procedure Code at Jadhav’s office and residential addresses in Thane and Dadar. Officers reported that the office premises were shut, and the residence had been demolished.
Further verification with the Nauapada police station confirmed that the office had remained closed for months and that the residence no longer existed. With Jadhav untraceable, police declared him absconding. A proclamation under Section 82 of the Criminal Procedure Code was issued, along with a non-bailable warrant under Section 70.
