Eight arrested for fake cheque racket in Arunachal Pradesh

A CORRESPONDENT

NAHARLAGUN: The Capital Police arrested eight people within the Itanagar Capital Region (ICR) in connection with a fake cheque racket being operated by Nepal-based kingpin Ganga alias Bhandari. Speaking to the reporters on Friday, Naharlagun SDPO Dekio Gumja said the police received a written FIR from the Chief Manager of SBI, G-Extension Branch, stating that one Tarh Tajuk came to the bank with a cheque, allegedly issued by the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) in favour of his firm for Rs 9, 78, 45,868.

He said the Chief Manager, prior to encashing the cheque verified it with the NDMC authorities and SBI New Delhi, from where the cheque was issued. Following the verification, it was disclosed that the cheque was fake. "A police case has been registered at Naharlagun police station. And, looking into the seriousness of the case, a special team was formed, led by Inspector Minli Geyi (OC), to investigate the case under the close supervision of SP Capital," he said.

Dekio Gumja said that during the investigation, it was revealed that a group of persons from ICR got in touch with a habitual fraud gang operating from Nepal and hatched a conspiracy to cheat public banks by depositing fake cheques and other forged documents.

"Tarh Tajuk, along with Jampa Khenrab, Sange Dakpa, and Dhan Bahadur Lama, had received the cheque from one Kishor Tamang, who runs a car wash in Itanagar. The group later forged a letter directing the SBI manager to release the amount," he said, adding that the letter was prepared by downloading the NDMC logo and details of the office from the NDMC website before submitting it to the SBI. He said the plan was that once the money was withdrawn, half of it was to be taken by Kishor Tamang, while the rest was to be distributed among the group members.

Dekio Gumja said that during the interrogation, Kishor Tamang revealed that he got in touch with one Anil Singh at Balipara a few months ago, who introduced him to the cheque scam. Subsequently, Tamang agreed to encash the cheque in Arunachal Pradesh. "Accordingly, in the month of March this year, Kishor Tamang, along with Anil Singh alias Anil Chauhan and his accomplice Suresh Kumar, left for Nepal to meet the kingpin of the entire racket," he added.

Following the meeting, Ganga gave them the cheque for Rs 9, 78, 45,868 with the understanding that half the encashed amount would be given to them and the other half would be kept by the party encashing the cheque. "After coming back to Itanagar, Tamang got in touch with his friend Dal Bahadur Lama, who took him to Sange Dakpa. Later they met Jampa Khenrab and finally with Tarh Tajuk," he said. The police team has arrested Anil Singh, Suresh Kumar, and Abhimanyu Chauhan, who prepared the fake cheque.

"Efforts are on to locate the Nepal-based kingpin Ganga, alias Bhandari. The forged seal of Executive Engineer-NDMC and other incriminating documents confirming the story of the offence have been seized," he said, appealing to the public not to fall into such scams. He further appealed to the public to report any such cases to the police to avoid any further legal consequences.