2 held for duping farmer of ₹65L he got as compensation for land
THE POLICE SAID ALAM REACTIVATED THE VICTIM’S CELLPHONE NUMBER, PREPARED A FAKE E-MAIL ACCOUNT AND SENT A MAIL TO THE BANK, ASKING THAT THE ATM CARD BE ISSUED
GHAZIABAD: The Ghaziabad police on Saturday arrested two persons, including an MBA graduate who earlier worked as a manager with an IT company, for allegedly acting in connivance with bank officials for illegally withdrawing ₹65 lakh from the bank account of the farmer, who recently received ₹1.13 crore as land compensation.
The police have identified the suspects as Sunil Tiwari and his accomplice Suraj Mandal, alias Shami, both of whom are residents of Madangir in Delhi.
The officials also said that the other suspects include one Alam, alias Hakim, who is a resident of Meerut and the female bank manager of the branch, where the victim had his account.
The police said that the suspects cheated victim Tayyab Khan, a resident of Masuri, who recently received ₹1.13 crore as land compensation.
“The victim on July 4 filed a police complaint and we started an investigation. Sunil told us that both were in touch with their friend Alam, who informed them that the victim’s bank account had recently received a large sum of money and that his registered mobile number was inactive and his ATM card had expired,” said Neeraj Kumar Jadaun, superintendent of police (rural).
The police said that Alam reactivated the victim’s mobile number and also prepared a fake e-mail account through which he sent a mail to the bank, asking for the issuance of the ATM card.
“He told bank officials that he will be sending one Suraj Mandal to whom the ATM card should be delivered. He also created a fake e-mail account on the behalf of the victim and sent a mail informing the bank that Suraj is coming to receive the card. He also prepared a fake Aadhaar card for Suraj. Suraj Mandal was a fake name Shami used. Once the bank delivered the ATM card to Shami, they made online withdrawals totalling about ₹65 lakh. The money got transferred to three accounts belonging to one Ankur Kumar,” Jadaun, added.
When the police traced the three accounts, they found that the name was the same in all three accounts but all the accounts were registered on the basis of fake addresses.
“It is suspected that there has been a violation of norms by bank officials and we also suspect that the gang could also be in touch with some employees of cellular operators, who reactivated the old mobile number of the victim. We are investigating their roles and we will make more arrests soon,” Jadaun, added.
The suspects have been booked for cheating and forgery at the Masuri police station and the police said that they have recovered ₹7.95 lakh from their possession.