local police arrested Ramakanta Pani (30) of Khadikapada under Basta area and his associate Rajesh Das (34) of Motiganj in Baleswar headquarters town for withdrawing Rs 3.8 lakh from the account of a senior citizen by forging his signature in a cheque.
Source said Somanth Das (68) had an account in SBI. Pani was his neighbour. He used to help Das and his wife. At times, Das got his cheque filled in by Pani before he signed it, when he had to withdraw money from bank.
His proximity with the Das couple and involvement in their financial transaction made Pani greedy of their properties. He hatched a conspiracy to dupe the couple of their money. Finding an opportunity, he managed to obtain the signature of Das in one cheque leaf and without their knowledge, withdrew Rs 3.8 lakh through the cheque. later, he deposited the sum in an account in UCO bank. In the whole process, Rajesh Das assisted him.
Police began an investigation after Somnath’s wife Suprava lodged a compliant with police. Police recovered Rs 3.8 lakh from the possession of Pani and registered a case under various Sections of the IPC against Pani and Das before forwarding the duo to court.
“While we have arrested two persons in the case, the role of the bank employees is also under scrutiny since the incident could have been averted had they scrutinized the documents properly. There could be more arrests in this connection,” informed Industrial police station IIC Maheswar Sethi.