Journalism of Courage
A fraudster claiming to be the director of a reputed jewellery firm in Pune contacted State Bank of India officials and made them transfer Rs 19 lakh to two bank accounts for a “medical emergency”, police said.
Police said that Ashish Javkhedkar and another officer of the SBI main branch near the district collectorate received a phone call on December 20, claiming to be from Kishorkumar Shah, director of Chandukaka Saraf & Sons Private Limited Company. The caller told the bank officials that he needed money urgently owing to some medical emergency. As per his instructions, the bank officials then transferred Rs 19 lakh into two accounts through the RTGS fund transfer system.
But it was later known that the caller was not related to the firm. Officials of the bank then lodged a complaint of cheating at the Bundgarden police station on Friday.
The fraudster who called the bank officers and the people whose accounts received the money were booked under sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act.
Senior police inspector Pratap Mankar is investigating the case.
