E-Paper
FIR against bank mitra, officials after multi-crore fraud alleged in Lucknow
The case has been registered under sections related to cheating, criminal conspiracy, forgery, misappropriation and destruction of evidence.
Police registered an FIR against a ‘bank mitra’ and unidentified bank officials for allegedly cheating dozens of account holders since 2020 after a multi-crore financial fraud surfaced at a bank branch operating inside a state university campus on Mohan Road in Para area of Lucknow.
According to the FIR lodged at Para police station late on Friday night, the accused, including a bank mitra identified as Shiva Rao and unnamed officials and employees posted at the branch since 2020, allegedly siphoned off money from the accounts of poor customers and students through forgery, fake vouchers and fabricated fixed deposit (FD) receipts.
The case has been registered under sections related to cheating, criminal conspiracy, forgery, misappropriation and destruction of evidence.
DCP West Zone, Vishwajeet Srivastava said that Para police registered an FIR under the charges of BNS 316(2), 316(5), 319(2), 318(4), 338, 336(3), 340(2), 238, 61(2) and 326(g) against unidentified bank officials and a Bank Mitra.
“Strict legal action will be taken against all those found involved and efforts would be made to recover the defrauded money and return it to the victims,” DCP said.
The complainant, Ram Singh Yadav, a resident of Salempur Pataura village under Para police station limits, stated that he is an account holder at the branch and that ₹8.60 lakh was fraudulently withdrawn from his savings account by preparing forged bills and vouchers. He further alleged that a fake FD worth ₹10 lakh was issued to him, while another ₹10 lakh was illegally deposited and withdrawn in the name of a third person without his consent.
The FIR claimed that similar fraudulent practices were carried out with multiple other account holders over the last four to five years. Victims alleged that forged FDs were handed over to customers, while mandatory SMS alerts for deposits and withdrawals were deliberately not sent to prevent detection.
The complainant further alleged that when irregularities began to surface, an attempt was made to destroy evidence by deliberately setting fire to the bank branch.
The FIR lists at least 25 named victims, with individual losses ranging from a few thousand rupees to as high as ₹13 lakh. The total estimated fraud amount runs into several crores, with police suspecting that more unidentified victims may be involved.
Officials are examining account records, FD documents and fire incident reports, while efforts are underway to identify all officials posted at the branch since 2020.
