₹16.43 crore siphoned off Agartala Municipal Corporation account, FIR lodged

The case has been lodged at West Agartala police station after the zonal manager of UCO bank found money withdrawn from civic body's account by 6 cloned cheques

Police have registered a case against 'unknown fraudsters' for siphoning off ₹16.38 crore from the account of Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) by using cloned cheques, an official said on Friday.

The fraudsters forged the signature of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the civic body, D K Chakma, to withdraw the money (PTI File Photo/representational)

The case has been lodged at West Agartala police station after the zonal manager of UCO bank, Sanjib Roy, found ₹16.38 crore was withdrawn from the civic body's account by six cloned cheques in August and first part of September.

"Following a specific complaint from a bank official, we have lodged an FIR for siphoning off ₹16.38 crore from AMC's account on Thursday. Preliminary investigation reveals that the fraudsters operating from Hyderabad had used six cloned cheques to withdraw huge amount from the bank," Officer in Charge (OC), West Agartala police station, Rana Chatterjee told the reporters.

The fraudsters forged the signature of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the civic body, D K Chakma, to withdraw the money while the original cheques are lying with the authority, he said.

Chatterjee said the investigating officer has already collected CCTV footage from UCO bank's Kaman Chowmuhani branch to check who had visited the bank to submit the forged cheques.

"Once we find the persons who had submitted the forged cheques at the bank, we will be able to get vital clues in the investigation process", he said.