JOIN USTripurari Prasad, Harvinder Singh, Arshad Ahmed, Devender Singh, Harmeet and Amandeep, all residents of Delhi, were arrested in the last few days, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Chhaya Sharma, said.
“Tripurari Prasad, a management graduate, claimed he was an IAS officer of Bihar cadre and that he served in Bihar Drugs and Chemicals Ltd,” Sharma said.
On verification, police found he was not an IAS officer.
“Several blank and signed cheques of different banks have been recovered from them; over 20 bank accounts in their names have been identified,” Sharma said.
The bank accounts are under scrutiny.
The cheats were arrested after police received complaints of fake cheques being used to siphon off huge cash from bank accounts of different government departments and private companies by an organised gang of criminals operating in northern India.
“Police arrested Tripurari Prasad and Harvinder Singh from Siri Fort Complex in south Delhi,” said Sharma.
During interrogation, they confessed they were collecting cheques from Jamir Ahmed and his son, Arshad Ahmed, a resident of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh.
When Ahmed turned up for delivery of fresh fake cheques and collection of cash withdrawn by the accused, he too was arrested.
On the instance of Ahmed, Devender Singh, Hardeep and Amandeep were arrested. They used to obtain scanned copies of cheques of different government, semi-government and private companies. They would then verify the account status and balance and accordingly fill the appropriate amount in the cheque.
“They passed the cheque to their individual account or of someone who has given a commission for such a favour,” said Sharma.
Police said one cheque had been traced to a company in Chamoli, Uttrakhand, whose five cheques worth Rs 2 crore were fraudulently encashed at different places.