In a swift operation, the Asansol Durgapur Police Commissionerate (ADPC) has successfully recovered Rs 40 lakh that was siphoned off from the account of the Asansol Municipal Corporation by cyber criminals. The criminals had forged the signature of a municipal official, enabling them to illegally transfer the funds.
The police arrested five suspects in connection with the fraud, which involved the deposit of a canceled cheque from 2022, leading to the unauthorized withdrawal of Rs 40 lakh from the Asansol Bazar Branch of a nationalised bank. An additional cheque for Rs 80 lakh was also deposited but was caught in time by bank officials and the municipal body, who had been alerted to the suspicious activity.
Among those arrested were Madhav Saraogi and Priyanshu Sahu, who were tracked down in Madhya Pradesh. The police later apprehended three more individuals involved in the crime. The police confirmed that Rs 28 lakh had already been transferred to various accounts, while Rs 12 lakh was frozen during the investigation.
The case was initially reported by Ahmed Kamal Faridi, Finance Officer of Asansol Municipal Corporation, and the Asansol Cyber Crime Police Station promptly acted upon it, recovering the funds within a month. Sunil Kumar Choudhury, Commissioner of Police, confirmed the arrests and ongoing investigation into other potential crimes committed by the accused.
Bidhan Upadhyay, the Mayor of Asansol, expressed his gratitude to the cyber crime police for their prompt response and recovery of public funds. The police continue to investigate the involvement of the arrested individuals in other cases.
