Panaji: Crime Branch police have arrested Subhashis Sikdar, one of the masterminds in the Rs 4.62 crore scam linked to Goa Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, said a senior police officer on Friday.
Police also arrested Mriganka Joarder along with Sikdar. Police have totally arrested seven accused till date, all natives of West Bengal, and are on the lookout for more.
According to police, Sikdar is a mastermind behind the scam involving illegal withdrawal of Rs 1.8 crore from Goa Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Society’s account held at the Porvorim branch of a nationalised bank.
Sikdar played the central role in planning and executing the fraud and was mainly responsible for converting the stolen money into bank credits under fake identities or mule accounts, thereby attempting to conceal the illegal origin of the funds, said police.
The other accused Joarder was involved in handling the laundered money. He managed an account, at a private bank, registered in the name Sonum Auto Sale, owned by Sumanta Mondal.
The account received Rs.49.44 lakh from the stolen funds.
Joarder is suspected to have helped in moving the stolen money, making it harder to trace, police said. They said his role appears to be crucial in concealing the fraudulent source of the funds.
The mobile phones of the accused persons, along with SIM cards, have been taken into custody for further investigation, police said.
The Porvorim police had earlier arrested five accused – Rabin Paul, Purnashish Sana, Alamin Mondal, Bidyadhar Mallick (all granted conditional bail) and Sumanta Mondal. The case was subsequently transferred to the crime branch police, Ribandar. Police said that an investigation is on to identify additional individuals involved in the case.
The First Information Report (FIR) was filed on May 6 at the Porvorim police station under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 for cheating and forgery. Investigations had revealed that unknown persons fraudulently updated the linked mobile number of the Goa Samagra Shiksha bank account, submitted forged PPS slips and presented fake cheques across multiple Goa bank branches, resulting in fraudulent withdrawals.
