He is accused of loaning Rs 11.5 lakh from a bank and not paying back.
The bank that gave the loan has now served a notice to Subhash, threatening him with legal action if he doesn’t return the money. Subhash claims he never took the loan.
"We are just asked to sign up some papers. We didnt know anything till this notice was served,” he claims.
He is not the only one who finds himself in this peculiar position. CNN-IBN has details of nearly 100 workers from Nasik, all Dalits, all class 4 employees, all facing accusations of not returning their loans, totalling up to Rs 10 crore.
They accuse Ram Rao Patil, a former NCP youth wing vice president, who hired them on contract as sweepers.
Patil is alleged to have taken signatures from these workers on blank sheets and then getting a loan to the tune of Rs 10 crore in their name from a Navi Mumbai-based bank.
The SC/ST commission has even filed a case under Dalit Atrocities Act against Patil last week. But he is still absconding.
"We have been assured by the CM that he will be arrested within 48 hours,” says the trade union secretary.
With Assembly elections around the corner and Dalit interests at stake, the case has already assumed political overtones. The BJP is accusing the NCP of promoting corruption.
"It just shows what NCP has been doing all along here,” said BJP’s spokesperson Prakash Jawadekar.
"I am appealing to the accused to surrender himself before the law enforcement agencies,” said NCP MP Supriya Sule.
For the NCP, this incident could turn out to be a huge embarrassment. With a poor show in the Lok Sabha elections and an upbeat Congress in the state, the party could do better than charges of discrimination against Dalits.