Ten Years On: Crimeophobia Intervention Brings Proclaimed Accused and Axis Bank Officials Before Mumbai Court within a month
Published: 26/06/2026; Author: Crime Desk Crimeophobia Bureau
“This decade-long Axis Bank forgery case raised serious questions regarding the investigation conducted by Juhu Police Station. Through criminological intervention, documentation, and persistence, proclamation orders were secured, non-bailable warrants were issued, and a long-absconding proclaimed accused was eventually brought before the Court to surrender. Upon further assessment, we found that she herself appeared to be a victim of the circumstances surrounding the alleged fraud, and accordingly supported her application for bail. When policing fails to bring accused persons before the Court, criminological intervention can sometimes achieve what warrants alone cannot. Criminology is not merely about identifying offenders; it is equally about recognising victims hidden behind allegations, even when they stand before the Court as proclaimed accused. While 8 out of 6 accused have been produced infront of the court, we now focus on the mastermind duo-brothers who are the primary accused and also report the crimes of Axis Bank to appropriate regulatory bodies.” — Criminologist Snehil Dhall
Mumbai: In what has emerged as a peculiar chapter in an alleged banking forgery and financial fraud case registered at the Juhu Police Station, a decade-long pursuit of proclaimed accused persons culminated in multiple accused appearing before a Mumbai court, not through police arrests, but allegedly through sustained intervention, documentation, and legal assistance undertaken by Crimeophobia and its founder, Criminologist Snehil Dhall in just one court hearing of Crimeophobia submitting its Intervention Application for an extremely complicated and overlapping Organised Crime in Multi-City and State proceedings. The case pertains to an FIR involving eight accused persons, including individuals associated with top management of Axis Bank, professionals such as a doctor and a chartered accountant, and members of a family alleged to have been involved in obtaining top-up loans through forged signatures and linked loan agreements.
According to Crimeophobia, the intervention initially focused on assisting the complainant family in pursuing action against the accused persons after years of alleged investigative inaction. The intervention reportedly resulted in a proclamation order being issued against members of the accused family on one side and on the other side, forfeiture of bail surety amounts, and the issuance of non-bailable warrants against senior Axis Bank officials. Crimeophobia claims that despite the proclamation proceedings and warrants, officers of the Juhu Police Station failed to arrest the accused persons in which it is already established fact that Juhu Police Station shows major ignorance towards the primary accused and all of the accused banker from Axis Bank.
From Accused to Victim
One of the most unusual developments in the case emerged when a woman declared a proclaimed accused, who had allegedly remained absconding for several years, eventually appeared before the Court to surrender. According to Criminologist Snehil Dhall, who argued as an intervenor in the matter, subsequent interactions, documentary review, and criminological assessment suggested that the woman herself may have been subjected to prolonged exploitation and manipulation by her husband, the principal accused, and other co-accused persons.
Crimeophobia states that during her appearance before the Court, the woman was visibly distressed, frequently broke down in tears, and claimed that she had spent years being blamed by complainants, investigators, and even members of society for allegedly assisting her husband, despite maintaining that she had herself become a victim of his conduct. According to documents reportedly examined by Crimeophobia, she had earlier lodged an FIR in Kota, Rajasthan, accusing her husband, Manish Carpenter, of offences relating to dowry harassment, domestic violence, and other acts of cruelty. However, it is alleged that despite the registration of the complaint, the primary accused continues to remain untraced by law enforcement authorities.
Crimeophobia further submits that the woman disclosed that her husband had allegedly induced or coerced her father into handing over title documents of the family’s residential property for obtaining business loans. It is alleged that the property was subsequently mortgaged and later taken over by Axis Bank owing to defaults in repayment, leaving her parental family financially devastated and facing criminal proceedings arising from the disputed loan transactions. According to Crimeophobia, the family has suffered severe social, financial, and psychological consequences, with members claiming to have effectively lost their home and livelihood while simultaneously facing the stigma associated with being named as accused persons in the forgery case.
“After nearly ten years of victims searching for the accused persons, we realised that she was not necessarily a mastermind but could herself be one of the victims of deception, coercion, and domestic abuse. The documents she produced, including her own complaint against the principal accused, indicated that she may have been trapped in circumstances beyond her control. The case serves as a reminder that criminology requires us to distinguish between those who orchestrate criminal enterprises and those who become collateral victims of them,” Dhall reportedly observed during proceedings associated with the matter.
Crimeophobia states that after assessing the available material, it reconsidered its initial perception of the proclaimed accused and ultimately assisted her in securing bail, taking the position that victimhood and criminal liability are not always mutually exclusive and that courts must carefully examine the circumstances under which individuals become entangled in organised financial and familial disputes. “In this case, a woman who was one of the accused turned out to be a potential victim of the crime. Through the lens of criminal psychology, we had to make the quick decision of whether to consider her a criminal and alert authorities, or explore how she had been victimised in this situation. After observing her emotional outbursts, potential motivations, marital dynamics and overall demeanour, it was decided that she should be considered a victim. The authorities of Juhu Police Station available inside the Court premise were regardless informed but even they were not interested taking her custody.” Says Tara McConkey Interning with Crimeophobia and a Criminal Psychology Student of University of Edinburg
Allegations Against Axis Bank Officials
The complainant alleges that more than 30 to 40 signatures belonging to family members were forged and utilised to facilitate disbursement of top-up loans through interconnected banking documentation. These signatures include the family of Doctors, Chartered Accountants and the family members of the wife of mastermind accused. Crimeophobia’s Law Intern Ms. Sanjana Chavda observed that during the court proceedings, senior officials associated with Axis Bank appeared to attend primarily in compliance with non-bailable warrant formalities. She further noted that, in contrast, the execution of such warrants and the recording of the official police statement of the proclaimed offender who had surrendered did not appear to have progressed with corresponding urgency.
She additionally observed that the presence of multiple accused persons before the Court on the same day, particularly after a prolonged period during which they had not been secured through investigative action, marked a significant development in the matter. Notably, despite the availability and physical presence of the accused before the Court, there did not appear to be any immediate or visible custodial or procedural follow-through, raising concerns regarding the consistency and effectiveness of investigative practices. For the complainant, it was allegedly the first occasion in nearly a decade that multiple accused persons named in the FIR were physically present before the court. Crimeophobia maintains that none of these accused persons were arrested by the investigating agency and that their appearance before the court was secured primarily through legal applications, intervention proceedings, documentary submissions, and sustained advocacy.
During the course of the proceedings, it was observed that certain accused persons appeared notably at ease and composed despite the seriousness of the allegations and the pendency of coercive processes, including non-bailable warrants. This apparent lack of apprehension, in the given circumstances, raises pertinent questions regarding their perceived likelihood of securing immediate relief, including bail. It also invites consideration as to whether the manner and extent of execution of investigative and coercive measures may have influenced such confidence, warranting closer examination within the broader context of the investigation. From a criminological perspective, such circumstances may also contribute to shaping the perception among accused persons regarding the predictability of legal outcomes and the enforceability of coercive processes, thereby warranting closer examination within the overall framework of the investigation.
Questions Raised on Police Investigation
The intervention has also raised concerns regarding the functioning of the investigating machinery. According to submissions made by Crimeophobia, officers from Juhu Police Station allegedly remained absent during critical court proceedings despite prior directions purportedly issued by a Deputy Commissioner of Police calling for the arrest of wanted accused persons. Crimeophobia has further alleged inconsistencies in the investigation, claiming that while police teams travelled outside Maharashtra, including visits to Bhopal in connection with executing warrants, significant witness statements and evidentiary aspects linked to the forgery allegations remained unrecorded. The organisation argues that the case demonstrates broader systemic concerns involving delayed investigations, execution of warrants, victim identification in financial crimes, and accountability of banking institutions where allegations of forged documentation arise.
A Criminological Perspective
The matter has also been presented by Crimeophobia as an example of criminology-based victimology in practice, where proclaimed offenders may themselves emerge as victims after detailed behavioural analysis and examination of the underlying power structures within families, professional networks, and financial systems. With the principal accused reportedly continuing to remain a proclaimed offender, the proceedings remain ongoing, while questions persist regarding investigative diligence, banking compliance mechanisms, and the role of independent subject experts in assisting courts and complainants in complex financial crime cases. The allegations made against individuals and institutions in the case remain subject to judicial determination, and no final adjudication on guilt or innocence has yet been rendered by the competent court.
“Victimology teaches us that the labels attached to individuals within criminal proceedings do not always reveal the complete story. A proclaimed offender, after careful behavioural assessment, documentary scrutiny, and examination of power dynamics within familial, financial, and social structures, may also emerge as a victim of coercion, deception, abuse, or dependency. Criminology requires practitioners to move beyond binary classifications of ‘offender’ and ‘victim’ and instead analyse the continuum of victimisation that may exist within organised financial and domestic disputes. Cases of this nature reaffirm that justice is best served when courts and investigators remain sensitive to hidden victimhood, even when it presents itself in the form of an accused person standing before the Court.” — Annanta Balsara, Intern with Crimeophobia and Criminology Student at National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU)
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