Tripura Forms Special Team to Probe Rs 16.38 Crore Bank Fraud at Agartala Municipal Corporation
In a quick move to tackle a major financial scam, the Tripura government has set up a four-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the illegal withdrawal of Rs 16.38 crore from the Agartala Municipal Corporation’s (AMC) bank account. The fraud involved cloned cheques, and officials shared details on Thursday.
The SIT will be led by the Additional Superintendent of Police (Urban) from West Tripura district. They will report directly to Superintendent of Police Namit Pathak. The team also includes Sub-Divisional Police Officer Deba Prasad Roy, Inspector Rana Chatterjee from West Agartala Police Station—who is already handling the case—and Sub-Inspector Ranjit Das.
Tripura Police kicked off the probe after UCO Bank’s Zonal Manager, Sanjib Roy, filed a complaint at West Agartala police station. He spotted the suspicious activity when Rs 16.38 crore vanished from the AMC account through six fake cheques last week. The culprits? Unidentified fraudsters who cloned the cheques to pull off the heist.
AMC Mayor and BJP MLA Dipak Majumder assured everyone that no AMC staff or officers played a role in this bank fraud. Early findings point to scammers based in Hyderabad. They forged the signature of a former AMC officer to cash in the money, even though the real cheques stayed safe with the civic body.
"Our investigating officer confirmed the original cheques are still with AMC officials," a police source told reporters. The team has grabbed CCTV footage from UCO Bank’s main branch at Kaman Chowmuhani in Agartala’s busy city center. They’re poring over the videos to spot who dropped off those cloned cheques.
"Identifying the people who submitted the fake cheques at the bank will help us track down everyone behind this Tripura bank fraud case," the officer added.
An AMC official revealed they’ve asked UCO Bank to refund the full Rs 16.38 crore to their account, and the bank has agreed to do so. This isn’t the first time— a similar cloned cheque scam hit a few years back, and the bank returned the funds then too.
On a bigger note, Tripura’s Director General of Police Anurag shared last week that state police have uncovered online money fraud totaling Rs 46.96 crore since 2021. They’ve frozen Rs 5.2 crore and already refunded Rs 34 lakh to victims. For the rest, a special drive will return the money after quick checks in the next three months.
The DGP also mentioned that police have details on 20,387 bank accounts linked to these cybercrimes in Tripura. As the SIT digs deeper into this Agartala Municipal Corporation fraud, residents are hopeful for swift justice and recovered funds. Stay tuned for updates on this ongoing investigation.
Stay informed on all the latest news, real-time breaking news updates, and follow all the important headlines in world News on Latest NewsX. Follow us on social media Facebook, Twitter(X), Gettr and subscribe our Youtube Channel.
