Cybercriminals clone cheque meant for Ram temple, siphon off over a lakh

Fraudsters developed a clone of the cheque which was publicised on social media as a donation for Ram temple construction.

Publicising a picture of a cheque meant as a donation for Ram temple construction proved costly to a Madhya Pradesh Congress MLA. Cybercriminals downloaded the picture of the cheque and develop clones of it to siphoned off more than ₹one lakh from the account of Congress MLA Surendra Singh Baghel, said police. Baghel represents Congress from Kukshi, Dhar.

cyber crime hacker typing on laptop (iStockphoto/Representative Image)

Bhopal's TT Nagar police station in-charge, Shailendra Sharma, said, “A personal secretary of the MLA, Hemendra Singh lodged a complaint on Monday that someone withdrew ₹1 lakh from the account of Baghel through two cheques in Delhi. The accused submitted the third cheque in Bhopal but the MLA got a message before the clearance of the cheque and managed to avert the transaction.”

“When the police investigated the matter and inquired about the cheque used for the withdrawal of money in Bhopal, it was found that it was the same cheque which Baghel had handed over to Shree Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra for Ram temple construction in Ayodhya,” he added.

Earlier in February, some supporters of the MLA posted a picture of the cheque on social media to publicise MLA's donation for the temple's construction.

The police are investigating the matter to nab the accused.