Bhubaneswar: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Crime Branch on Wednesday arrested one more person in Ranchi in connection with Rs 2.87-crore cheque fraud in Rourkela.
Following the arrest of four persons earlier and further investigation, the EOW could know that Harsh Singh from Jharkhand capital was the mastermind of the case and arrested him. He has been produced before Judicial Magistrate, Ranchi and is being brought in transit for production before the SDJM, Panposh, Rourkela.
The case came to light after chief manager of Bank of India (BoI), Rourkela filed a complaint that B Murty Pillai, a customer of the bank had managed to avail Rs 2.87 crore from the BoI by using a cloned cheque as original and diverted the same for his personal use. Pillai was arrested on January 8 and forwarded to court.
Further investigation ascertained that Singh was the mastermind in procuring the cloned cheque purportedly issued from the Account of Karnataka State Co-operative Marketing Federation Limited (KSCMFL). He along with Pillai and four other arrested persons, Amit Kumar Gupta, Sunil Kumar Mohanta and Arun Kumar Barik hatched a conspiracy.
As per the conspiracy, Singh entrusted the cheque to Pillai who entered the amount of Rs 2.87 crore on it and managed to get it cleared from BOI, Rourkela. He got the cheque amount deposited in his Cash Credit account maintained in the said branch. Soon after clearing of the fake cheque and deposit of the amount in his account, Pillai transferred it to different accounts maintained by him, his relatives and accomplices.
The EOW has also ascertained that Singh received a substantial share from the fraud amount. Photos of many such cloned cheques were seized from Sunil Kumar Mohanta, which were sent to him by Harsh Singh. Further investigation is on to trace other accused in the case.
Also Read: Rourkela Bizman Arrested For Cheque Fraud Worth Rs 2.87 Crore
