Church priest held for fraud

Mohali: The police have arrested a priest of church for fraudulently withdrawing money from a private bank account of a person, living abroad, here. The accused, Veenu Gopal of Hasanpur, UP, is said to be a priest in a church. As per the police, the accused committed a fraud of Rs 5 lakh after opening an account in the name of the victim, Apindernath, while using fake documents in a local branch of the ICICI Bank. The police said Apindernath has also an account in the same bank. “The accused opened an account in name of Apindernath and gave the bank a copy of fake Aadhaar card, having his photo. After getting cheque book in the name of the victim, he transferred Rs 5 lakh from Apindernath’s account to the fake account”, the police said. The matter came to light when he got the bank message on his mobile phone and alerted the bank about the fraud through email. The accused was trapped and arrested on the complaint of a bank employee. A case has been registered. He will be produced in a local court on Saturday. — TNS