Agartala, Sep 5: Tripura Police have launched an investigation into a major financial fraud in which unidentified miscreants allegedly withdrew Rs 16.38 crore from the bank account of the Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) using cloned cheques.
According to officials, UCO Bank’s Zonal Manager, Sanjib Roy, lodged a case at the West Agartala police station after it was detected that six counterfeit cheques were used between August and September to siphon off the money.
Preliminary investigations suggest that the fraudsters, suspected to be operating from Hyderabad, forged the signature of a former AMC officer while the original cheques remained intact with the civic body. “Our investigating officer has verified that the genuine cheques are still in AMC’s custody,” a police source said. CCTV footage from UCO Bank’s main branch at Kaman Chowmuhani has been collected and is being examined to identify the individuals who deposited the forged cheques.
An AMC official stated that the corporation has formally requested UCO Bank to refund the embezzled amount. “The bank has agreed to return the entire Rs 16.38 crore to AMC’s account,” the official confirmed. A similar incident had occurred earlier, when the bank had also reimbursed the civic body.
Meanwhile, Tripura Director General of Police (DGP) Anurag recently revealed that the state has witnessed cyber and financial fraud amounting to Rs 46.96 crore since 2021. Of this, Rs 5.2 crore was frozen by authorities, and Rs 34 lakh has already been refunded to victims. Police are also planning a special drive to return the remaining amount after verification within three months. Investigations have uncovered over 20,000 bank accounts linked to such cybercrimes in the state.
