Postal scandal 8212; Case registered

CHANDIGARH, Aug 5: Following a complaint filed by the postal authorities, the police have registered a case of fraud and forgery for causing a loss of Rs 90,000 to the state exchequer through fake money orders.

The police have begun investigations to find out who is behind the scam.It was earlier reported in these columns how some of the local jewellers had received money orders from Patna, each worth about Rs 23,000. The money order slip, signed by Jagdish Singh, said that he wanted to buy some jewellery for a wedding and therefore he was sending the money. It added that his brother, Bankey Singh, was on his way to collect the jewellery and the balance amount.

This was followed by a communication from the office of Senior Superintendent of Post Offices, Chandigarh, asking the jewellers to return the amount as they were all bogus money orders. The receipts carried a seal of a post office in Patna which did not exist.Police sources said that money orders worth a total of Rs 2.10 lakh were received from Patna and the post offices had disbursed MOs worth Rs 1.05 lakhs. The post offices have already received back Rs 15,000 from the jewellers.