Gujarat: Bengal man held over fake BJP MP letters sent to SBI Chairman, used for railway quota
Valsad, July 13 (IANS) A man accused of creating forged e-mail accounts and fake official letterheads of a BJP MP to send recommendation letters to the State Bank of India (SBI) and obtain confirmed railway tickets under the special quota, has been arrested by the Valsad Cyber Crime Police within hours of the complaint being registered, officials said on Monday.
The accused, identified as Pratik Dey, 30, originally from West Bengal and currently residing in Isanpur area of Ahmedabad, was arrested during an investigation into a cyber fraud case registered at Valsad Cyber Crime Police Station under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and the Information Technology Act, 2008.
According to the police, the case was registered after Ravikumar Patel, personal assistant to Valsad Lok Sabha MP, Dhaval Patel, filed a complaint alleging that an unknown person had impersonated the MP by using his identity, official designation, letterhead and signature to prepare forged electronic records and documents.
The forged recommendation letter was addressed to SBI Chairman Challa Sreenivasulu Setty in an alleged attempt to mislead the bank and obtain benefits through fraudulent means.
Police said the investigation was carried out under the guidance of Director General of Police G.S. Malik and other senior officials.
Investigators said they collected information from the office of MP Dhaval Patel and conducted technical and social profile analysis, which traced the fake e-mail account to the Isanpur area of Ahmedabad.
Acting on the leads, the cyber crime team reached Ahmedabad and, with the help of human Intelligence, identified Pratik as the person allegedly responsible for creating the fraudulent e-mail account.
During questioning, police said they discovered that the accused had allegedly prepared forged letterheads not only of MP Dhaval Patel but also of MP Parshottam Rupala and a police officer from West Bengal.
According to the investigation, the forged documents were used to obtain confirmed railway tickets through the Railway Special Quota and to send recommendation letters to the headquarters of the State Bank of India.
“The accused remains in custody and further investigation is underway to determine the full extent of the alleged fraud and whether additional offences or beneficiaries are involved,” an official told IANS.
During the operation, investigators seized a mobile phone allegedly used in the offence, which contained the e-mail account “officempvalsad2@gmail.com” along with seven other logged-in e-mail accounts, including one purportedly linked to a police officer.
They seized forged letterheads in the names of MP Dhaval Patel and approximately seven forged letterheads of MP Purushottam Rupala.
They also recovered eight letters purportedly issued by the Hooghly Rural Police District Headquarters in West Bengal bearing the signature of a Deputy Superintendent of Police, six letters bearing the purported signature of Deputy Superintendent of Police Sandip Nandi, one letter bearing the purported signature of Deputy Superintendent of Police Rajib Gon, and a laptop that allegedly contained forged letterhead templates.
The case has been registered under Sections 318(4), 319(2), 336(2), 336(3), 336(4) and 340(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, along with Sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2008.
–IANS
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