Rs 21 lakh withdrawn using counterfeit cheques

Kendrapara (Odisha), Mar 9 (PTI) Over Rs 21 lakh from the account of Bihar State Warehousing Corporation (BSWC) were found to have been withdrawn using two counterfeit cheques from a branch of State Bank of India here, police said today. The fraudsters withdrew Rs 21.32 lakh from the BSWC account using two counterfeit cheques. The matter came to light when the original cheques were submitted, they said. The cheques sent for clearance were strikingly similar to original ones, they said. The SBI Kendrapara branch had received two cheques issued by BSWC through SBI Mauryalok Complex branch in Patna, the branch's chief manager Prabin Kumar Mahapatra said. "Those were sent to us for clearance by local branches of Axis bank and Canara bank. The cheques were honoured as we did not find anything wrong in it," he said. "However, the fraud was detected after our Patna counterpart alerted us that the cheques were fake. By that time the money was withdrawn," Mahapatra said. The police suspect that the fraudsters are spread in places like Patna (Bihar), Malda (West Bengal), Nasik (Maharastra) and Ahmedabad (Gujurat). Cases have been registered under sections 420, 467, 468, 472 and 120 (b) of the Indian Penal Code, police said. Our preliminary findings reveal that the culprits are conduits of a countrywide racket of counterfeit bank cheques, they said. PTI COR AAM NN HKR