The Delhi Police on Sunday arrested three members of a gang for fraud and cheating people by allegedly using the name of Punjab National Bank. According to the police,the accused would assure their victims that they can provide a loan at cheap interest rates. They would then take cheques from the victims with only the initials of Punjab National Bank,PNB,written on the cheque. With ample spaces in between the alphabets,the gang would then change PNB to ROBIN BASIN,the police said. The police said the members randomly dialled phone numbers and offered loan on cheap interest rates from nationalised banks without guarantee. If any person accepted the offer,one of the accused,Jitender Jha,visited him and collected documents,photos and bank statements. Later,another gang member,Ashok,called to verify the assets of the victim. The third accused,Rajan,visited the victim posing as a bank employee after showing a Punjab National Bank identity card. Rajan then collected signed blank cheques,and if the victim objected,he filled the letters P-N-B which the gang later changed to ROBIN BASIN by inserting letters in the vacant space. They withdrew cash from the bank by showing a forged driving licence in the name of Robin Basin, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) Atul Katiyar said. Katiyar added once the gang withdrew the money they destroyed the SIM card used for calling their victim and purchased a new SIM card with the identity proof of the victim. The gang has reportedly been functioning in the NCR for the last one and half years. The police have managed to trace seven of their victims. With the arrest of Rajan,Ashok Dhari and Jitender Jha,police have recovered Rs 17,600 and forged identity cards. The investigation into the fraud was initiated after one Mukesh Kumar Bansal approached the Aman Vihar police station on January 13 saying he was contacted by a person who promised him a loan at cheap interest rates and cheated him of Rs 32,800.
