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Maharashtra man held for defrauding Chandigarh MC of ₹28.5 lakh
Identified as Kotta Gadvani Thirupathi, 43, the Maharashtra man had made another attempt to withdraw ₹1.2 crore from same account of Chandigarh MC, which brought the fraud to light
The UT police have arrested a Maharashtra man for fraudulently withdrawing ₹28.5 lakh from an account of the Chandigarh municipal corporation using a forged cheque.
Identified as Kotta Gadvani Thirupathi, 43, he had also made another attempt to withdraw ₹1.2 crore, which brought the fraud to light.
The accused was arrested from Wani village in Maharashtra’s Yavatmal district. He was produced in a Chandigarh district court on Tuesday and sent to eight-day police custody. Police have also identified his accomplice.
“We have arrested one person who had got the forged cheque withdrawn while the other accused involved has been identified. Teams are in Wani to arrest him,” said Kuldeep Singh Chahal, senior superintendent of police (SSP), Chandigarh.
A case of cheating and forgery was registered at the police station in Sector 17 a week ago on the complaint of Virender Singh Thakur, chief accountant officer, MC, Chandigarh.
Alertness of manager saved more loss
The fraud came to light after the branch manager, Bank of Baroda, Sector 37, Chandigarh, called Thakur and informed him that two bearer cheques issued on October 13 and 16 in favour of one Husan Mutarik Shaikh have been deposited for the release of ₹98.51 lakh and ₹22.50 lakh, respectively.
The payment of the cheques was stopped as these were not issued by authorised signatories of the MC.
On checking with the bank, it came to light that an amount of ₹28.51 lakh had been paid to Kartikya Fish Plant in Wani on October 11. The cheque was also found forged.
The account in question is used by the MC to deposit money collected from cow cess, which is imposed on the sale of liquor and is used for welfare of animals. The account belongs to the medical officer of health, as this MC department is entrusted with the responsibility of looking after gaushalas.
MC to write to RBI for reimbursement
Thirupathi told police that he in involved in fish trade and has a current account with the Bank of Baroda. He had got the forged cheque enchased that was issued in the name of Kartikya Fish Plant. The bank, too, did not check how the money was diverted. Police said that the cheques were deposited for encashment at Amaravati in Maharastra.
After not getting a response from the bank for reimbursement of ₹28.51 lakh withdrawn fraudulently, the MC will now be writing to the Reserve Bank of India.
“The money was withdrawn due to the negligence of the bank and we have written to them for reimbursement. We have already clarified that if the bank fails to reimburse the amount, the MC will initiate legal proceedings. I will also be writing to the RBI to get the money reimbursed,” said Anindita Mitra, commissioner, MC.
