Bank cheque fraud syndicate busted in Jalandhar, five held

Jalandhar, August 25

The Jalandhar Commissionerate Police have dismantled a multi-state bank cheque fraud syndicate that has been duping unsuspecting victims across Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Karnataka.

Addressing a press conference today, Commissioner of Police Swapan Sharma said the operation began following a complaint lodged by a local resident, Ashok Sobti, in May. Sobti reported that two cheques he had deposited at the Bank of Baroda had been intercepted, tampered with, and subsequently deposited into fraudulent accounts.

This led to the registration of an FIR at Navi Baradari police station under Sections 420, 465, 468, and 471 of the IPC, with additional charges under Sections 380, 367, and 120B of the IPC being added as the investigation progressed.

With a combination of technical surveillance, scientific analysis and human intelligence, the police tracked down and apprehended four key suspects identified as Deepak, Arun, Mohit, and Honey. During the course of the investigation, another suspect, Gurditta Singh, was also arrested. The suspects had been using fake IDs to open numerous bank accounts across various banks, facilitating a series of fraudulent transactions.

According to Sharma, 61 fraudulent transactions were identified, with funds being funnelled through these fake accounts. The police have since frozen 19 of these accounts. The investigation also linked the syndicate to three other cases registered at Rama Mandi and Police Division Number 3 in Jalandhar.

Deepak Thakur has been identified as the kingpin of the operation, orchestrating the scheme across multiple states by tampering with cheques and depositing funds into accounts under aliases such as Vikram Bajaj and Monu Saini.

The police have seized a considerable amount of evidence from the suspects, including 19 passbooks, 17 cheque books of various banks, 44 ATM cards, tools used for tampering with cheques, a Nissan Magnite car, and other incriminating materials.

Sharma disclosed that Deepak and Mohit each have two pending cases against them, while Arun has one. “The investigation into the syndicate’s activities is ongoing, with further arrests and developments expected as we unravel the full extent of the operation,” he added.