KOLKATA: A 53-year-old woman has been arrested by Regent Park police on Monday for duping an employee of the US Cultural Office of Rs 6.6 lakh. Mridula Roy, the accused, works as an agent of post & telegraph department and allegedly withdrew Pulak Ranjan Pattanayak's money from his monthly income scheme account with forged papers. Preliminary probe hinted that an official of the P&T department is also involved in the forgery.
Police said Pattanayak, an employee of US Cultural Office had a MIS account at Purba Putiari Post Office. "It was a six-year scheme and he was supposed to withdraw the maturity amount in March 2010," said a police officer.
In February, Pattanayak applied to the post office, stating that he wanted the amount in cheque. The sub-post master of Purba Putiari countersigned it, mentioning the amount.
Finally, when Pattanayak went to withdraw the money, he was informed that his amount had been withdrawn a year ago. The officials refused to divulge any detail. They, however, could not reply how without his signature or valid approval the cheque was issued a year ago.
Realising that he had been duped, Pattanayak contacted Mridula, who used to deposit the monthly amount. "The pass book of my account was also with her. After a lot of cajoling, she confessed that she had withdrawn the amount fraudulently and gave me a written confession," said Pattanayak.
He lodged a complaint with Regent Park police station and Mridula was arrested.
During interrogation Mridula hinted that some officials of the post office are involved in the racket. Police said the previous sub-postmaster of the post office could have played a crucial role in the case.
1 comment:
Can an agent grab money without the direct or indirect help of postal staff where the question of cheque issuance is involved?
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