16 Crore Scam Rocks Agartala Municipal Corporation Account, Fake Cheques, Uco Bank-AMC Nexus Under Police Probe

By Our Correspondent

Agartala, September 5, 2025

A massive financial fraud involving over 16 crore has come to light in Agartala, triggering shockwaves in administrative and banking circles. The money, belonging to the Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC), was siphoned off from its account at UCO Bank’s Kaman Chowmuhani branch through cloned cheques between August 5 and September 2.

UCO Bank authorities filed an FIR (No. 2025/101 dated 04/09/25) at West Agartala Police Station, alleging fraudulent RTGS transactions amounting to 16,38,43,300 from AMC’s official account (00910205556050). The FIR was lodged by UCO Bank Zonal Head Sanjib Roy, who named multiple unknown individuals as accused. The case is being investigated under the supervision of Inspector Rana Chatterjee, Officer-in-Charge of West Agartala PS, assisted by SI Ranjit Das.

According to preliminary findings, at least six forged cheques bearing authentic-looking signatures were presented in the bank by an unidentified person posing as AMC’s representative. The cheques were cloned using genuine cheque numbers that AMC still retained in original form, proving they were never officially issued. Despite this, the forged cheques were cleared, and funds were transferred via RTGS to accounts of companies and individuals across different states.

The fraudulent withdrawals include: Rs. 1.98 crore by Ganesh Enterprise (Cheque No. 000441) on Aug 5, Rs. 2.17 crore by Shree Sai Balaji Associates Pvt. Ltd. (Cheque No. 000439) on Aug 5, Rs. 2.61 crore by Paliwal Enterprise (Cheque No. 000447) on Aug 8, Rs. 2.37 crore by RU Enterprise (Cheque No. 000450) on Aug 8, Rs. 1.57 crore by A Association (Cheque No. 000440) on Sept 2, Rs. 2.65 crore by Biswas Enterprise (Cheque No. 000449) on Sept 2.

AMC officials pointed out that all these cheque numbers remain intact in their custody, indicating deliberate cloning. Bank CCTV footage reportedly shows an unknown man repeatedly visiting the branch, identifying himself as an AMC representative, and submitting the forged cheques.

The police suspect a deep nexus between insiders in both AMC and UCO Bank. Experts believe such large-scale fraud was impossible without collusion from officials on both sides. Questions have also been raised about how the fraudsters obtained specimen signatures of AMC’s CEO, which were perfectly replicated on the fake cheques.

Bank authorities have managed to freeze one account, preventing a portion of the siphoned money from being withdrawn. However, around Rs. 14 crore is already believed to have been routed out to companies, with the masterminds allegedly operating from outside the state.

AMC had informed UCO Bank that no RTGS transactions were authorized on August 5, August 8, and September 2, despite multiple debit alerts being sent to designated officers via SMS and email. Shockingly, the alerts were either ignored or went unnoticed for nearly a month, delaying the discovery of the scam.

Police have already secured CCTV evidence and are scrutinizing the role of several AMC and UCO Bank officials.

more news...