E-Paper
Ludhiana: ₹2L misappropriated; accountant booked
The FIR was registered on the complaint of Surinder Singh, a resident of Phase-I, Urban Estate, Dugri. Police have booked the accused under Sections 316(2) (criminal breach of trust) and 318(2) (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)
The Dugri police have registered a case against an accountant for allegedly misappropriating more than ₹2 lakh entrusted to him by a city-based couple for payment of income tax and furnishing forged receipts to make it appear that the tax had been deposited.
The accused has been identified as Pardeep Singh, a resident of the Kot Mangal Singh area. The FIR was registered on the complaint of Surinder Singh, a resident of Phase-I, Urban Estate, Dugri. Police have booked the accused under Sections 316(2) (criminal breach of trust) and 318(2) (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
According to complaint Surinder Singh and his wife Rajwant Kaur, they relied on the accused to file their Income Tax Returns (ITRs) for several years. The couple alleged that they regularly handed over cash to Pardeep Singh for payment of taxes, following which he would provide them with receipts claiming that the required amounts had been deposited with the income tax department.
The alleged fraud came to light when the couple received a notice from the income tax department regarding non-payment of taxes. On verifying the records, they discovered that the money handed over to the accountant had allegedly never been deposited.
Surinder Singh subsequently filed a complaint with the police in November 2025, following which an inquiry was initiated.
Confirming the development, inspector Gurmukh Singh, SHO of Dugri police station, said a detailed inquiry conducted by senior police officials found substance in the allegations.
He said the accused had been entrusted with filing the complainants’ ITRs for the financial years 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25, for which the couple allegedly paid him more than ₹2 lakh.
“The investigation revealed that the accused failed to deposit the tax amount despite
collecting the money from the complainants. Later, when penalties were imposed by the Income Tax Department, he allegedly did not deposit those dues either, resulting in notices being issued to the victims,” the SHO said.
Police said the receipts provided to the complainants are also being examined as part of the investigation.
