17 March,2026 09:58 AM IST | Mumbai | A Correspondent
Police said Kalsekar first used the card in March 2007 for a purchase of R395. Representation pic/istock
Nearly 19 years after a fraud involving a nationalised bank in Colaba, the Colaba police have arrested a man accused of using a blocked credit card to spend around Rs 10 lakh in 2008. The accused, Hanif Jahur Kalsekar, was recently traced through voter records and mobile phone data. He has since been granted bail on medical grounds.
Police said Kalsekar had applied for a credit card in 2007 at a Colaba-based nationalised bank. The bank issued him a credit card with a Rs 20,000 limit. Police said Kalsekar first used the card in March 2007 for Rs 395. By August that year, the credit limit had been exhausted, and the bank blocked the card after repeated usage and non-payment. Recovery teams could not trace him at his residences in Versova and Andheri.
Advocate Sunil Pandey. Pics/By Special Arrangement
But, between April and September 2008, the accused allegedly used the blocked card to make transactions worth Rs 10 lakh. The bank detected the irregularity and filed a complaint with the Colaba police. PSI Sachin Taware said, "We are still trying to determine how the accused was able to use a blocked card."
Advocate Sunil Pandey, appearing for the accused, said Kalsekar was falsely implicated. He argued that non-payment of bank dues does not attract IPC Section 420 and alleged that bank loopholes led to the situation.
Accused
Hanif Jahur Kalsekar, 48
Resident of Oshiwara, Andheri East
Timeline
2007: Applied for a credit card at a Colaba-based nationalised bank
March 8, 2007: First transaction of Rs 395
August 2007: Rs 20,000 credit limit exhausted; card blocked
April-Sept 2008: Allegedly spent around Rs 10 lakh using the blocked card
2026: Accused traced and arrested after the case reopened
>> Records showed accused recently voted in Ratnagiri
>> Police visited Ratnagiri and gathered leads
>> Mobile phone number and CDR data helped trace him to Lokhandwala
