Mumbai: Investigations into the alleged cheque theft racket busted by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch earlier this month have revealed an organised set up and links to scores of similar gangs operating in Mumbai and Thane. On October 7, the Crime Branch’s Property Cell had arrested four people including a postal department employee for allegedly stealing cheques sent by air mail and using them to steal money.
The Crime Branch is now looking at more such cases in the city to check if the accused are connected to them. Police said the accused revealed during interrogation that cheques were selected based on specific criteria. A Crime Branch officer said the accused would choose cheques sent by NRIs, as they wouldn’t come to India to file a complaint. They also ensured that recipients were not based in Maharashtra. “In many cases, the recipient would call the sender and get a fresh cheque sent. The matter wouldn’t be reported to the police — something the gang was fully aware of.”
He added, “In such cases, victims first check with their bank and then with the senders or recipients before approaching the police. The police station then seeks transaction details from the bank, which takes some time. This loss of time ends up hampering the investigation.”
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Some of the accused have been booked for similar crimes dating back to 2008, and are in regular touch with several such gangs, with whom they work together on occasion. These gangs have at least one member with access to cheques, be it postal employees, couriers or employees of affluent businessmen. In 2013, actor Raveena Tandon's husband Anil Thadani had reported that ₹12.5 lakh had been transferred from his account without his knowledge. Police arrested his employee for allegedly stealing his chequebook and passing it on to one such gang.
The gang divides its work among its members: getting the cheques, tampering with them, depositing them and opening accounts. Each part works independent of the other, police said. “In the last year, 110 such offences have been registered. One of the accused, Sunil Jain, is involved in at least two cases. More cases are expected to be detected,” the officer said.