Multi-crore fraud: HC seeks bank report, praises Ggm cops

The court directed the bank to submit the report of its departmental inquiry. The police were also directed to investigate the involvement of the complainant or others related to him in the crime and a status report. The next hearing is scheduled for Wednesday

The Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday while hearing an anticipatory bail plea filed by an official of a nationalised bank, who was named a suspect in a fraud case wherein a farmer was duped of ₹1.39 crore by a former loan agent, directed the bank concerned to submit a report of the departmental inquiry into officials’ role in the con. The court also reserved praise for the Gurugram police officials over the investigation and said that the investigation could serve as a model for such probes.

Praveen Mittal, the mastermind.

In compliance with an August 16 order, Amitava Chatterjee, a chief general manager of the State Bank of India appeared before the court through videoconferencing and said that the bank has a policy under which victims subjected to fraud are reimbursed but that in the present case, there are certain “leads/clues” indicating the involvement of the complainant or his relatives in the crime. Chatterjee said that a departmental inquiry against the officials concerned of the bank has been completed

The court directed the bank to submit the report of the departmental inquiry. The police were also directed to investigate the involvement of the complainant or others related to him in the crime and a status report. The next hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.

The police commissioner and assistant commissioner of police (DLF) were praised by the bench of justice Arun Kumar Tyagi, who observed that the investigation of the fraud was difficult.

“The court appreciates the effective steps taken by the Gurugram police commissioner and Karan Goel, assistant commissioner of police, in-charge of SIT and action taken by them in this case, which was a difficult one for an investigator and now present a model to be followed in investigation of similar cases,” the bench observed.

The investigation also exposed irregularities in issuing SIM cards by a leading telecom company, as around 500 SIM cards were issued without proper documentation. The police said they have already registered two FIRs and arrested seven persons, including the mastermind, Praveen Mittal, from Delhi.

“Such observations by the court will uplift the morale of the entire team and the police. We put in a lot of effort in the investigation and appreciation from the court is a motivation for the entire team,” said Goel.

Goel said that the farmer did not receive the one-time password on his mobile phone and that facial mapping was also not done by the bank when Mittal went to the bank posing as the farmer, identified as Lila Ram.