Forged Rs 10cr Mizoram govt cheque lands in Bengaluru bank

BENGALURU: An attempt to transfer a huge sum of money from a Mizoram government bank account by presenting bogus cheques across India, including two in Bengaluru, is now being investigated by Bengaluru Rural police.
Suryanagar police registered a case of cheating and forgery based on a complaint from Varun Bhatia, Chandapura branch manager of Vijaya Bank (now Bank of Baroda).
Police said a miscreant visited the bank on March 6 and presented a cheque for Rs 10 crore in favour of Shivam Granites.
The cheque was drawn on the Mizoram rural development department's account in the Aizawl branch of Vijaya Bank and was issued by the the project director of Mizoram Roads attached to the northeastern state's department.
"Officials from Aizawl branch communicated to their Chandapura counterparts through email that the cheque hadn't been issued by the account holder. Following this, Chandapura officials considered it a bogus cheque and payment transfer was not effected," a police officer said.
Police said they have not been able to identify the suspect, who presented the cheque in the bank as the CCTVs in the Chandapura branch weren't functional.
In the complaint Bhatia said this was the second such cheque for a huge amount of money drawn on Mizoram government and presented in Bengaluru by the miscreants. "Another cheque issued from the same account for Rs 28.5 crore was presented at our service branch in Bengaluru on March 3 through Bharat Co-operative Bank (Mumbai) Ltd's Moodabidri branch. This amount was frozen after an alert was raised by the Moodabidri branch head," Bhatia stated.
Surya Nagar police said they have collected details about the Shivam Granites bank account from the petitioner. "We will summon Shivam Granites personnel to enquire about the cheque. A team has been assigned to trace the suspect, who presented the cheque and another team will be sent to Mizoram to collect more details from officials there," Nanjunde Gowda, deputy superintendent of police (Anekal), said.
Police suspect the miscreants forged a cheque leaf, or stole it from the office of project director, Mizoram Roads. "Mizoram government officials said they have been told of several such complaints from across India," an officer said.