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Gang of multi-state bank cheque ‘fraudsters’ busted, 5 held
Jalandhar police busted a multi-state bank cheque fraud syndicate, arresting five and seizing cheques, passbooks, ATM cards, and a car. Investigations continue.
The Jalandhar police have busted a multi-state bank cheque fraud syndicate involved in duping people in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Karnataka. Five persons have been arrested and several cheques, passbooks, ATM cards and a car have been seized from them.
Police commissioner Swapan Sharma said Ashok Sobti, a city resident, complained he had deposited two cheques in Bank of Baroda a few months ago which some unknown individuals ‘stole’ from the bank and tampered the same to get money credited into their accounts.
An FIR was registered under Sections 420 (cheating), 465 (for making forged documents), 467 (forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged), 380 (theft) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code against unknown persons on May 1.
During the investigation, the police zeroed in on four suspects, identified as Deepak Thakur, Arun, Mohit and Honey, on the basis of technical and scientific evidence and human intelligence, Sharma said. The accused were later arrested. Besides, another suspect, Gurditta Singh, was also caught. The accused created fake identities and opened numerous bank accounts in different banks.
“A total of 61 transactions (credit entries) took place in these accounts. During the investigation, the police froze 19 fake bank accounts. Three other cases registered at Rama Mandi and Division number 3 police stations have also been linked to these accused.
About their modus operandi, the police commissioner said the accused used to approach employees in banks with concocted stories that they had wrongly dropped some cheque in their drop boxes. The accused used to take away cheques with hefty amounts mentioned. They scanned the same before making alterations to add their bank account numbers.
“We are trying to figure out how were they able to do it so promptly,” he said. Sharma said Deepak Thakur is the kingpin of the gang who has been actively involved in Punjab, Haryana and other states by tampering with cheques and getting money transferred into their bank accounts under the names of Vikram Bajaj and Monu Saini.
He said that 19 passbooks, 17 cheque books and 44 ATM cards of different banks, fluid used to tamper cheques, pen and a car bearing registration number JK02-DF-8437 have been seized from them. The police commissioner said two cases are already pending against Deepak and Mohit while one is pending against Arun. Further investigation is being carried out and more details will be shared later, he added.
