Kaliganj, Dec. 3. : Nadia Police has started a probe on the basis of a complaint by the Nadia district administration after it found that one cheque from a cheque book issued to Kaliganj Panchayat
Samity by IDBI Bank’s Krishnanagar branch was used at least two times and in one occasion an amount of Rs.85.70-lakh was allegedly withdrawn fraudulently by a Chattisgarh based Transporter with which it never made any transaction.
Surprisingly enough, the hefty amount was withdrawn using the cheque, No.265955 on October 27, when it was in real term not issued at all by the account holder, the Executive Officer of Kaliganj Panchayat Samity.
He issued the cheque actually much later, on November 15 to pay Rs.3.15lakh to some beneficiaries under centre’s minority community development scheme, being unaware that a cheque with the same number was already cleared by that bank debiting Rs.85.70lakh.
The suspicious cheque with an amount of Rs.85,70,560/-, which was apparently forged, was placed for clearance by Raipur based Tashu Transport through its Dena Bank account, which the IDBI bank cleared without doubt.
The shocking incident came to light on November 30, when the account book was updated. Nazir Hussain, Kaliganj’s EO lodged a police complaint for probe raising suspicion about the role of the bank.
Administrative sources said that the account with IDBI bank is exclusively used for payment to beneficiaries under centre’s Multi Sectoral Development Programme (MSDP) for members of minorities.
Police has started a case for cheating, forgery and breach of trust. However, the sleuths have so far not interrogated any officer of the IDBI bank.
Sumit Gupta
“Now our first priority is to get back the money, then we will go for inquiry and suitable action against bank even though it assured refund” – Sumit Gupta, DM
An investigating officer said: “The investigation is at preliminary stage. Action will be taken against the responsible persons whose role would be surfaced up during course of investigation”.
Nadia District Magistrate Sumit Gupta said: “It is quite surprising that how the bank cleared both the chques with such big amount without a telephone call to the account holder. The forged cheque had erroneous address and postal index number; nevertheless, the bank authority did not raise any doubt about its authenticity. They did not even clarify when the real cheque was placed for clearance. Now our first priority is to get back the money, then we will go for inquiry and suitable action against bank even though it assured refund. We have told the bank to find out the responsible persons and to inform us the action it would take against them”.
Amitesh Kumar, Manager of IDBI Bank’s Krishnagar branch said: “We are really surprised how it happened. It is a mystery. We welcome police investigation. Let the police find out it who are involved. We, however, assured the administration to refund money”.
Meanwhile, when contacted over telephone Bitendra Kumar Sing, who claimed to be the owner of suspected Tashu Transport in Raipur said: “I am embarrassed with what has happened. One local person named Surendra, who is known to me, requested to allow him to use my agency’s name to get a payment for government contract he purportedly done. I allowed it on good faith, but, later I became suspicious when the big amount was credited. I told him to show work order for the job he has claimed to have done. But, when he failed to show any such document I refused to give money withdrawing it from my account and lodged police complaint. I have also not withdrawn any amount for personal use and told my bank (Dena Bank) to arrange for refund to IDBI bank authority”.