Babban Vishwanath Shinde, also known as Babban Baba, the mastermind behind a massive Rs300 crore bank fraud in Maharashtra, has been apprehended by the Maharashtra Police with the help of local authorities in Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh. Shinde had been evading capture for months by hiding in plain sight, posing as a sadhu (seer) at a temple in the region.
Shinde, 41, was wanted in connection with a series of fraud cases that came to light in Beed, Dharashiv, and Mumbai between June and July 2023. Police say he had carefully disguised himself, shaving his beard and moustache, and wearing a traditional kurta and dhoti to blend in as a sadhu. Authorities had been tracking his movements, suspecting him to be hiding in Delhi, Assam, Odisha, Nepal, and various parts of Uttar Pradesh.
After a lengthy search, the breakthrough came when police traced Shinde to Vrindavan in Mathura, where he had been living near the Krishna Balram Mandir. It was here that Shinde, attempting to evade detection, had sought refuge in the guise of a religious figure.
Shinde was the chairman of the Jijau Maasaheb Multi-State Cooperative Credit Society Limited, based in Beed, Maharashtra. The society had over 70,000 account holders who had deposited significant amounts of money. However, in May 2023, authorities uncovered a massive fraud involving the cooperative. Initially estimated at Rs150 crore, the total sum of the fraud grew to Rs300 crore as more depositors came forward with complaints.
Shinde’s fraudulent activities involved criminal breach of trust and cheating, as he misappropriated the funds of the account holders. He vanished shortly after the fraud was discovered in July 2023, when an FIR was filed in Beed, triggering investigations and multiple police raids.
Despite being on the run, Shinde remained elusive, constantly changing locations and fleeing from one state to another. The Maharashtra Police, however, were persistent, and with the help of Mathura Police, they were able to track him down in Vrindavan.
The authorities had received intelligence reports suggesting that Shinde had been hiding in the region, which led them to raid the area and eventually arrest him near the Krishna Balram Mandir.
Shinde’s arrest marks a significant milestone in a case that has captured national attention due to its scale and the involvement of a well-established cooperative credit society.