Jharkhand State Electricity Board fraudulent withdrawal case: Rs 60 lakh in cash seized

In its crackdown in the case related to the fraudulent withdrawal from the Jharkhand State Electricity Board, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the matter recovered a cache of Rs 60 lakh from the location of a local bank branch manager, officials said on Saturday.

The SIT, acting on the information provided by Lolas Lakra, the branch manager of Central Bank of India, Birsa Chowk, who was arrested earlier, the stash of cash was recovered from his location in the Kadru Basti area of Ranchi.

A banknote counter machine was pressed into service to count the currency notes. The owner of the house, Ramlakhan Yadav, has also been arrested, police said.

On the information of one Lokeshwar Shah, who was arrested earlier, Rs 76.38 lakh have been frozen in various banks also SIM card belonging to the accused have also been seized by the SIT.

The SIT formed under the leadership of Superintendent of Police Rishabh Jha of the Anti-Terror Squad (ATS), has so far recovered Rs 1.83 crore in cash only.

Also, jewellery worth over Rs 17 lakh has been seized and Rs 48 crore have been frozen in various bank accounts, according to officials. So far, a total of seven people have been arrested in the case.

The matter came to light after a case was registered at the CID police station of Ranchi on October 19 last year on the complaint by the Senior Manager of Finance and Accounts Department of Jharkhand Electricity Employees Master Trust. He alleged a fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 56.50 crore had been committed through fake accounts.

Further action into the matter is underway, officials added.