City firm duped of Rs 53L, probe on

Jalandhar, January 6

A city-based firm, Lovely Autos, has been duped of Rs 53 lakh in a sophisticated fraud.

On the complaint of Shilpi Rani, manager of State Bank of India, Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar Branch, the Police Commissionerate has registered a case against the suspects.

A person claiming to be the owner of Lovely Autos contacted the branch manager in November 2023. He asserted that the chequebook had expired and he had to do an urgent payment.

Posing as the owner of the firm, the fraudster requested the branch manager to transfer funds to bank accounts of five persons. As a security reason, the branch manager asked him to send necessary permissions via official email. An email from firm owner Naresh Mittal was sent to the bank granting permission for the transactions.

However, the incident came to fore when Lovely Autos raised objections over the transactions amounting close to Rs 53 lakh. The bank later realised that calls and emails were fraudulent.

Shilpi Rani reported the incident to the police and shared the contact numbers among other evidence with them.

Hardev Singh, SHO of the Division Number 4 police station, said a case had been registered against unidentified suspects under Sections 403, 420, 465, 468, 471, 120B of the IPC and Section 66D of the IT Act. He said call details and other evidence were being examined to identify the suspects.

Call details being examined: police

Hardev Singh, SHO of the Division Number 4 police station, said a case had been registered against unidentified suspects under Sections 403, 420, 465, 468, 471, 120B of the IPC and Section 66D of the IT Act. He said call details and other evidence were being examined to identify the suspects.