Bhubaneswar: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Odisha Police has arrested two more individuals in connection with a Rs 9.56 crore cheque cloning fraud at Bank of India’s Baripada branch.
The arrested persons have been identified as Surjit Roy, proprietor of Roy Associates, and Sameer Srivastav, proprietor of SS Traders. They were apprehended from Raipur, Chhattisgarh, on May 21, and brought to Bhubaneswar after obtaining transit remand.
According to the EOW, the duo will be produced before the Designated Court under the OPID Act in Balasore.
The Fraud
The case was originally registered at Bhanjapur police station in Mayurbhanj district on April 19, 2024, based on a complaint by Sujata Kanungo, Chief Manager of Bank of India, Baripada. It was later taken over by the EOW.
The fraud involved cloned/forged cheques used to siphon off Rs 9,56,76,600 from the account of the District Mineral Foundation Trust, Zilla Parishad,
Mayurbhanj, on April 10 and 18, 2024. The stolen money was transferred to two accounts — PT Constructions & Supplier at Bank of Maharashtra and S K Enterprises at Punjab & Sindh Bank.
Investigators found that the funds were subsequently layered and diverted through multiple accounts across different banks. So far, Rs 5.04 crore has been blocked, while another Rs 13.56 lakh lying in 33 accounts has been frozen.
Roy and Srivastav received Rs 45.19 lakh and Rs 39.19 lakh respectively from the PT Constructions & Supplier account.
Larger Gang Network
It is being suspected that the accused are part of a well-organised inter-state gang operating for the past four years across Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Odisha. The gang allegedly used sophisticated methods including cheque cloning, creation of multiple shell accounts, multi-layering of transactions, and local touts to execute and conceal the frauds.
Following the arrests, investigators have obtained significant leads about the wider network and its kingpin.
Previous Arrests
Four other accused — Pomesh Tembhare, Ghanshyam Ahuja, Ajmir Mondal, and Brajesh Mishra — have already been arrested in the same case.The EOW said further investigation is underway to identify and arrest the remaining members of the gang.