35-yr-old ITBP constable held for embezzling ₹26 lakh

Police said a probe revealed that the forgery was done by altering the bank account numbers, after obtaining the signatures of authorities

NEW DELHI

The arrest came after a complaint filed by the central record office of the ITBP on July 12 at the Bhikaji Cama Place police station. (Representative photo)

A 35-year-old constable of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) was arrested for allegedly embezzling ₹26 lakh from the department by forging salary slips. The accused was working at the ITBP office in RK Puram of Delhi and assisted with salary payments, police said.

Deputy commissioner of police (south west) Rohit Meena identified the accused as Anil Kumar Pandey, a resident of RK Puram, who joined ITBP in 2011.

The arrest came after a complaint filed by the central record office of the ITBP on July 12 at the Bhikaji Cama Place police station, alleging fraud of ₹26 lakh since July 2023. “The complaint stated that someone was forging bills and reimbursing amounts to non-ITBP personnel’s bank accounts,” a senior police officer, requesting anonymity, said.

The officer said a case under sections 318(4) (cheating), 336(3) (forgery) and 340 (forged document using as genuine) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) was registered at the RK Puram police station.

The officer said a probe revealed that the forgery was done by altering the bank account numbers, after obtaining the signatures of authorities. “The investigation led to Pandey, a constable working as a clerk, who was responsible for transporting the bills from the office at RK Puram to the Pay and Accounts Office (PAO) at Lodhi Road and then transferring the funds by entering the bank account numbers of ITBP employees,” the officer said.

After sufficient evidence was collected, Pandey was arrested on July 16, police said.

Interrogation of the accused revealed that he transferred amounts of ₹15,93,706 and ₹10,26,000 to accounts of his relatives and friends.

“He used to get the bills sanctioned from authorities using correct details but later, forged them by entering bank account numbers of people known to him having names similar to serving or retired ITBP employees across the country,” the officer said.