Charges framed against SBI official, 3 others in graft case

Tribune News Service

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Panchkula, September 9

A special CBI court here today framed charges against four persons, including an assistant manager, New Officers Colony branch of the State Bank of India, Patiala, in a 2013 graft case.

The charges have been framed against Gurpreet Singh (41), a resident of Hasanpur, Sangrur district, Punjab; Naresh Kumar (51), a resident of Rajpura, Patiala; Ashok Kumar (42) and Shilpa Rani (33) of Bhatia Colony, Fatehabad, Haryana, under Sections 420, 467, 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code, Section 13 (1) (d) read with Section 13 (2) of the PC Act, 1988, and Section 66 read with Section 43 of the IT Act, 2000.

According to the CBI, in 2013, Gurpreet Singh opened an account with Uttarakhand Gramin Bank, Balawala, Dehradun, after impersonating as Neeraj Kumar, Engineer-in-Chief, Haryana Public Health Engineering Department, Panchkula.

The agency stated: “He (Gurpreet Singh) submitted forged documents and then entered into a conspiracy with others.”

The co-accused include Naresh Kumar, who was posted as the assistant manager, New Officers’ Colony branch of the State Bank of India, Patiala; Ashok Kumar, Shilpa Rani and Jarnail Singh (approver). The CBI said even the mobile number used by Naresh Kumar for coordinating with other co-accused was bought using forged documents.

The Court of Special Judge, Dr Sushil Kumar Garg, Special Judge, CBI, observed that: “They all dishonestly accessed the account, used fake and forged cheques in 2013 and 2015 and fraudulently withdrew Rs13.53 crore from an account of Engineer-in-Chief, maintained with the State Bank of India, Sector 10, Panchkula, in the name of Kumar.”