Indore : Palasia police have nabbed two swindlers who had withdrawn more than Rs 15 lakh from bank accounts of various persons from eight banks of the city.
The surprising fact is that the enterprising swindlers have not even completed school education and yet managed to perpetrate hi-tech crimes. The police are questioning the duo in hope of other similar unsolved crimes in the past.
According to police, the two are identified as Santosh Malviya (30), a resident of Nageen Nagar and Ritesh Maratha (31), a resident of Somani Nagar. Six months ago Pradeep Singh, a resident of Khajrana had purchased jewellery worth Rs 2.5 lakh from a jewellery store in Palasia.
Singh had made the payment through cheque. However, the jeweller was unable to collect the payment against the cheque for long time and therefore Singh made inquiries at the bank. He was shocked to find that the cheque had been collected but the money did not go to the jeweller’s account.
Investigating officer SN Pandey said that Singh lodged a complaint following the discovery. Based on mobile number written on the back of the cheque the police began its investigation, but ran against the wall as the number was not operational.
Some time later the number became active again and the police traced the owner and found that he was relative of accused Santosh. Once Santosh was nabbed locating his partner in crime, Ritesh was easy.
The modus operandi of the duo, who did not even pass out of school, took the police by surprise. The duo had observed Singh and took all the information about his account in Canara Bank, Palasia Branch. When the cheque arrived at the bank for collection, the duo took the cheque posing as jewellery store employees. They copied the cheque and practiced signature until finally they were able to withdraw the money from his account.
During the questioning, the duo admitted to perpetrating similar crimes at eight other bank branches in the city and the money swindled thus far totals to little over Rs 15 lac. The police are also trying to recover the money from their possession if possible.
