A significant breakthrough has been achieved by the Arunachal Pradesh police, as they apprehended Koushik Das on charges of cheating and cheque forgery amounting to Rs 35 lakhs, as confirmed by a senior police official. The arrest follows a meticulous investigation launched on February 8, triggered by a complaint lodged by Techi Niglo, a resident of Ganga village, Itanagar, regarding an unauthorized transfer from his SBI bank account, revealed Capital Superintendent of Police (SP) Rohit Rajbir Singh on Monday. Upon receiving the complaint, a case was promptly registered at Chimpu police station and assigned to Sub-Inspector S K Jha for thorough investigation. SP Singh disclosed that investigative endeavors led to the recovery and seizure of a missing cheque leaf from the complainant’s cheque book at the SBI Ganga branch.
Additionally, a crucial piece of evidence emerged in the form of a letter pad belonging to M/s Hita Enterprises, found in Das’s possession, which he utilized to practice forging Niglo’s signature. “The investigation revealed that the fraudulent cheque was presented at the SBI Ganga branch, resulting in Rs 35 lakhs being credited to an HDFC account belonging to Tridip Saikia at the Biswanath Chariali branch in Assam,” asserted the SP. Subsequently, portions of the ill-gotten funds were re-transferred to another SBI account, withdrawn in cash, and Rs 20 lakhs were transferred to M/s Kuntala Filling Station, owned by one Rajib Das. The prime suspects, identified as Koushik Das, Tridip Saikia, and Rajib Das, initially evaded police efforts to locate them.
While Koushik Das was successfully apprehended in Guwahati on May 18 through technical surveillance, Saikia remained elusive. Meanwhile, Rajib Das failed to cooperate with law enforcement despite obtaining interim bail from the High Court, Itanagar Permanent Bench.In a proactive measure to prevent further withdrawals, the beneficiary accounts containing Rs 22 lakhs were debit-frozen, pending restoration to the complainant.
