Two employees of a private company in Kolkata have been arrested while allegedly trying to encash a fake demand draft for Rs 1 crore in a private bank in the city.
Police said the demand draft had been issued by a company in Bangalore and then cancelled.
Explaining the modus operandi, the police said the company in Bangalore first issued a demand draft and then cancelled it. The beneficiary company, based in Kolkata, forged a similar demand draft seeing the photograph of the original with the aim to encash the counterfeit instrument in the bank.
"A large racket is involved in such fraudulent activities," said a senior police officer of the eastern suburban division of Kolkata police.
“Two persons were caught red-handed inside a bank in Beleghata on Tuesday while trying to encash one such fake demand draft. The bank alerted the local police station about the suspicious transaction,” said the officer.
A team from Beleghata police station arrested two men — identified as Partha Basu and Sanat Kumar Naskar — who had gone to the bank to encash the allegedly fake demand draft.
A demand draft is a pre-paid instrument issued by a bank on its behalf, guaranteeing payment to the recipient.
“A cheque can bounce for several reasons, including inadequate funds in the account. But when a demand draft is made, the entire money is transferred to the bank, which then issues the instrument. Hence, there is no chance of the money not getting transferred,” explained a bank official.
However, if a demand draft is cancelled, it means the money has been sent back to the company or the individual to whom the instrument had been issued.
“The bank suffers a loss if a forged demand draft is encashed," the bank official said.
Use of forged demand drafts is not very common in Kolkata, the police said. They have started a case under IPC sections on forgery and criminal conspiracy.
“Two persons who were arrested on Tuesday were produced in a court on Wednesday and have been remanded in police custody till March 8,” an officer at Beleghata police station said.