Two accused get bail in Chandigarh

Chandigarh, December 4

A local court has allowed bail to two accused - Anand Ramesh Nair, alias Bunty Nair, and Kamal Sadashiv Koche - who were arrested by the Chandigarh Police for allegedly fraudulently withdrawing money from the bank account of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation.

A special team of the police arrested the accused in the last week of October from Maharashtra. The police registered the case on a complaint of Varinder Singh Thakur, Chief Accounts Officer, MC. Thakur reported that some persons presented two forged cheques at Bank of Baroda, Sector 37, Chandigarh, on October 18, 2021 and tried to withdraw money. It was then discovered that Rs28.51 lakh was already withdrawn at the same bank by presenting a forged cheque on October 11, 2021.

Payment of the cheques was stopped as these were not issued by the authorised signatories of the MC.

On checking with the bank, it came to light that an amount of Rs28.51 lakh had been paid to Kartikya Fish Plant in Wani on October 11. The cheque was also found forged. The account is used by the MC to deposit money collected from cow cess. The account belongs to the Medical Officer of Health, which is entrusted with the responsibility of looking after Gaushalas.

During investigation, a team from the Chandigarh Police went to Maharashtra and arrested three accused in the case. The police said the three were hired by the prime suspects to commit the crime. The police claimed that the three received their share of the amount for helping the prime suspects in committing the crime.

The counsel for the accused claimed that there was no role of the accused in the alleged fraud. After hearing the arguments, the court granted bail to the accused. Another accused arrested in the case was granted bail earlier. — TNS