Frauds draw Rs 24.15 lakh from govt account in Sitamarhi, FIR lodged

Arun Lata Sharma

Sitamarhi:  Members of an inter-gang of frauds have drawn Rs 24,15,700 from Sitamarhi district government account between January 17 and January 22, 2018. They submitted five duplicate cheque leaves with forged signatures of competent authorities in Chennai in doing this. The original cheque- book bearing those cheque leaves numbers are in the almirah of the Nazir, Sitamarhi Collectorate.
On  January 23, 2018, the Nazir got an SMS from State Bank of India (SBI), Sitamarhi Branch, that someone has produced a cheque in an SBI branch in Chennai for clearance. This was when the gang submitted the fifth cheque leave.

The Nazir immediately passed on the message to Sitamarhi DM Rajiv Raushan. The DM along with officials rushed to the bank and got the account freezed. An FIR has been lodged with Dumra police station, Sitamarhi, and investigation is underway.
The SBI officials are trying to locate the fraudulent accounts and persons involve in it. They are also trying to restore the withdrawn amount. According to police sources, without the involvement of some bank personnel duplicate cheque leaves can not be printed.