The Knave In The City Is A Hero In His Hometown

The small-town boy with big dreams that went disastrously awry still remains a hero for many of the residents of his home town. You may call him a scamster and one of the greatest cheats in recent times, but in Sujangarh, it is difficult to find many people who have only hard words for Chain Roop Bhansali.

Even the people who may have sound reasons to feel bitter. On the morning of June 4, the Central Bureau of Investigation came calling on the house of local journalist Nripat Kumar Lodha. Lodha remembers his consternation. They wanted to know the whereabouts of my brother, Swajjan Kumar Lodha, because they believed he was connected with the CRB scam.

 

The CBI proceeded to arrest the latter and took him, some say, to Mumbai. Fifteen days later he came back. Apparently it was all a mistake because they wanted one Swajjan Mal Lodha. Lodha says he does not feel bitterness at this Kafkaesque incident, at the CBI or C R Bhansali. Well, one did not expect CRB to get involved in this scam, he says. Even so, he is a decent chap.

Inder Kumar Bhansali, CRBs paternal cousin, is perhaps the most unfortunate victim of the CRB scam. He was abruptly fired from his job with a broking firm in Delhi because of his connections with CRB, although he has no business connections with the latter. I understand, he says with a fatalistic shrug. Maybe in three-four months, when the affair has died down, I can go back. And what are his opinions on CR Bhansali? He was a humble boy and a good man.This, then, is the opinion of the greater majority of Sujangarh town about the Rs 1,200 crore scam. All right, so Bhansali may have been involved in a scam, but he was exploiting the loopholes in the system. It is as much the fault of the Reserve Bank of India, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the State Bank of India and the government as CRBs. And, it may just be possible that he has been made the fall-guy for a whole lot of bureaucrats and politicians. Why should they go scot- free?

There is also the feeling that Bhansali will ensure that Sujangarhis who invested in his schemes will get their money back. States Pawan Kumar Aggarwal, trader, They keep talking about CRB. But do you think he could have done it without help from politicians and bureaucrats? Why should the blame rest with one man? The reaction of a student, is far more direct, We think he is brilliant. And if people invested in his company, well, who in his right mind would invest in a company that is working on a 36 per cent cost of capital?

There is a feeling of admiration for the local lad who made good and some bitterness that he has been singled out for retribution.

It must be stressed that absolutely no one here believes that Bhansali is completely innocent. Most people think that CRB went wrong because it was impossible to keep the tempo going on the high interest payouts he was prepared to offer. And also that Bhansalis rise was much too fast.

Come on, says Baboolal Bafna, the uncrowned share king of Sujangarh. You expect anyone to believe that a man who was worth Rs 2 crore five years ago could reach Rs 450 crore in such a short time? Is it possible? Bhansali was working on the system of borrowing from people to pay back his earlier creditors. He had to go under some time.

I knew his balance-sheets were doctored three years ago, says H M Sethia, the only practising chartered accountant in Sujangarh. His EPS was far too high. And anyway, he was borrowing at very high costs. I kept well clear of his fixed deposits and advised people to do the same.

Some did not. Word here is that Sujangarhis came out in droves to invest in CRBs FD schemes, lured by the high interest rates and the fact that a local lad was offering it to them. For the record, people say the town had invested around Rs 2.5 crore in CRBs schemes. But JVG finance officer Sanjay Kumar begs to differ. That is what the small traders must have invested, and that is the white money component. People here tell me that as much as Rs 80 crore has gone into his deposits.

But no one is prepared to talk about it, because most of the money that people had invested was from their undeclared incomes. Says Bank of Punjab manager K P Sharma, Things had reached such a stage in this town that even some government bank officials were telling their clients to put money in CRB and getting a commission to do so.

Sharma thinks people in Sujangarh will have problems getting their money back because they invested in the first place under false names or with money which they are not supposed to have. You cannot ask the government to pay back your black money, can you? he says.

Perhaps that is one of the more important reasons why people here are not prepared to speak out against CR Bhansali. There is the distinct feeling that they will get their money back if they remain quiet. Bhansali is not going anywhere with the money. If they keep mum, there is the possibility that he may cough up the cash, if not elsewhere, than at least for the people of Sujangarh. Lodha says: Most people think CRB will pay back their dues. Notice that not a single case has been filed against him from Sujangarh.

People here are sure that overweening ambition is the main reason why Bhansali came a cropper. Mahatwakanksha is a word that is often used in connection with the man. It came to a level where he was playing satta, says local trader Mahavir Miranka. It is hard not to notice the contempt in his voice. We are real traders, he says, and his is a refrain that is repeated time and again by other residents. We believe in trading in real commodities and earning real rates of interest. Not what he was doing. A lot of people think that CRBs shenanigans have ruined the reputation of the trading community in Sujangarh.

Bhansalis relationship with his guru, the late Acharya Tulsi, also comes in for comment. People here think that CRB capitalised on his proximity to the Acharya to tap sources of wealth for his business interests. And rumours are that the Acharyas demise was a result of shock suffered from his favourite disciples business fiasco.

There are also some who think of Bhansali as an outright scamster. According to Pawan Kumar Garodia, owner of a general goods store, Of course he did it deliberately and he can pay back the money if he wants to. But why should he? He is a real kalakaar. More damning is the statement of Rukmanand Sharma, one time teacher of Bhansali. I do not wish to talk to him or about people like him, he says curtly and signals that the interview is over. Residents say his son worked as an official in CRB Caps.

There is some embarrassment over the fact that Bhansali is one in a long line of alleged scamsters from this small town of 85,000 people (1991 census), including Rajendra Sethia. You journalists keep coming here asking after Sethia and Bhansali says Sher Singh Bhati, student. And all you talk about is scams and scamsters. But do you know how much Sujangarh has contributed to the film industry and the kathak art form? All that outsiders want to know about is this scandal.

His views are reiterated by Chander Prakash Swami, owner of Subham Computer Systems. You cant just say that our town breeds scamsters. We have accomplishments that no one writes about. Lata Mangeshkars guru was from this town. The man who composed the music of the song Aayega Aane Waala from Mahal was a Sujangarhi. So are many of the most prominent kathak artists in the country.

People here also derive a little pleasure from the fact that their town is now firmly on the national map. Please make sure that you send us a copy of your story, is the almost constant refrain. We would like to read about Sujangarh in a national newspaper.

But will Bhansali actually pay up the money he owes people? That is a question Baboolal Bafna answers best. He pauses to consider the question. Who knows? he says sadly. Who knows what goes on in the mind of any man?