In a unique method of cheating, two persons identifying themselves as Agriculture Department officials took a cheque of Rs50 from a resident of Sundargarh promising to give him subsidised paddy seed but withdrew a whopping Rs84,000 from his bank account.This fraud has become a cause of headache for two banks in Sundargarh and put the Town police on their toes to nab the two fraudsters.One Golap Chandra Patel resides at Dhilingapali under the Sundargarh Town police station. On April 25, two unknown persons had come to Golap and identified themselves as officials of the Agriculture Department and promised to give high breed paddy seed on subsidized rate. They asked Golap to give Rs50 in cheque to become a member.
An encouraged Golap immediately signed a leaf of Union Bank of India cheque mentioning Rs50 and leaving the payee line blank as per their advice. The two pesons then took the cheque and left the place.On May 7, Golap was shocked to receive a message in his mobile that Rs84,000 had been debited from his bank account on the day. Golap Chandra immediately phoned the Branch Manager of the Union Bank to enquire about the withdrawal. The Branch Manager told him that he would later inform about the withdrawal as there was link failure at that time.
On May 8, Golap went to the bank and was astonished to see that the cheque he gave to the persons on April 7 bears Rs84,000 figure and payee’s name as Bijay Ba. The amount had been debited from his account to Ba’s account in the Oriental Bank of Commerce Sundargrh Branch.When Golap argued with Union Bank officials, an Assistant Manager told him that he would get back Rs84000 and not to worry. Assured Golap heaved a sigh of relief and waited for a account credit message. But days of waiting went in vein as he didn’t receive any message.Though he visited the bank many times and urged officials for money, yet didn’t get his money back.
The whole matter came to the fore recently, when Golap filed an FIR in the Town police station. Police have started investigation into the matter after registering a case.Concerned officials had not verified the cheque properly. The officials could have suspected the cheque there was erase and rough mark in the amount box and amount figures and payee (Bijay Ba)’s name was written in blue ink while Golap’s signature was in black ink. The cheque also bore a fake address.“We have come to know that the address and other details of Bijay Ba are fake ones. Our efforts are now to nab those persons who are involved in this cheating. We will nab them soon,” said Town PS IIC PK Jena.