Mumbai man arrested after he steals bizman’s chequebooks, tries of cheat him of Rs8.5 lakh

Earlier this year, the man discovered that his official cheque-books, along with other important documents, went missing.

A Mumbai businessman, Bhupendra Tripathi, 50, almost lost Rs8.5 lakh after the man with whom he shared his office space stole his chequebooks.

According to the Kandivli police, Tripathi had rented an office on SV Road in June last year for his real estate business. Tripathi shared this office with the accused, Sunil Thakkar, who works in financial assistance.

In May this year, Tripathi discovered that his official cheque-books, which he uses to conduct his businesses, were missing along with his personal chequebooks.

In his complaint to the police, Tripathi said that some documents of a real estate deal along with his wife’s PAN Card and Aadhaar Card were also missing. He suspected Thakkar, as he was the only other person who had the keys to the cupboard.

On June 23, Tripathi received a call from his banks for the clearance of some cheques issued in favour of Sunil Thakkar and Ronak Thakkar. Four cheques amounting to Rs8.5 lakh had been deposited in the bank using Tripathi’s forged signatures, officials said.

The bank, skeptical about Tripathi’s signatures, called to verify their issuance. When Tripathi denied issuing any such cheques, the payments were blocked.