Borrower accuses Bhandara Urban Co-operative Bank of illegally seizing Bhadravati hotel, writes to RBI

Chandrapur: The dispute between Bhandara Urban Co-operative Bank and borrower Tushar Satpute over recovery of the loan on Hotel Ambika in Bhadravati has escalated. At a press conference, Satpute alleged that the bank took possession of the property illegally. He has complained to the RBI and demanded a thorough investigation.

Satpute says bank officials took the revenue and police administration along to take possession of the hotel property. According to him, the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) in Nagpur has cancelled the bank's auction. The bank's side has not yet been available.

By way of background, Satpute took the loan from the bank on August 16, 2018. He had approached the DRT in Nagpur against the recovery. While the matter was still before the tribunal, a naib tehsildar locked the hotel on August 22, 2024, with police deployment.

According to Satpute, he had shown readiness to repay the loan under a "one-time loan settlement scheme", yet the bank announced an auction of the property in violation of rules. On September 28, 2026, the DRT declared the auction illegal and cancelled it. It also directed the bank to submit the seizure report to the tribunal.

At the press conference, Satpute accused the bank of another serious irregularity. He said that even after the loan taken by Vijay Ghate was fully repaid, the bank did not release two of his plots from mortgage. On the contrary, Satpute alleged, a loan was given against the same plots to Vijay Pattiwar in violation of rules on the strength of forged documents, amounting to fraud.

In view of all this, Satpute has demanded a special forensic audit of all loan cases of Bhandara Urban Bank over the past five years. He also demanded stringent action against the guilty bank managers, officials and auditors. Raju Kukde of the MNS was also present at the press conference.