Agartala, Sep 5: The Tripura Police have initiated an inquiry into a case involving unidentified fraudsters who allegedly siphoned off Rs 16.38 crore from the Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) bank account using counterfeit cheques, as reported by officials on Friday.

A police representative stated that Sanjib Roy, the Zonal Manager of UCO Bank, filed a complaint at the West Agartala police station after discovering that Rs 16.38 crore had been withdrawn from the AMC account via six forged cheques during August and September.

According to preliminary findings, the fraudsters, believed to be operating from Hyderabad, forged the signature of a former AMC official to facilitate the withdrawal while the authentic cheques remained with the municipal body.

"Our investigation team has confirmed that the original cheques are still held by the relevant AMC officials," the representative noted, adding that they have obtained CCTV footage from UCO Bank's main branch located at Kaman Chowmuhani and are analyzing it to identify the individuals who submitted the fraudulent cheques.

"Identifying those who presented the cloned cheques at UCO Bank will be crucial in tracing the individuals involved in this case," he explained.

Officials from the AMC have already requested UCO Bank to restore the full amount of Rs 16.38 crore to the municipal account, and the bank has consented to this request.

A similar incident occurred a few years back, where the bank also reimbursed the funds, according to an AMC official.

Tripura's Director General of Police, Anurag, mentioned last week that since 2021, the state police have identified online fraud cases totaling Rs 46.96 crore, of which Rs 5.2 crore has been recovered, and Rs 34 lakh has been returned to victims. The police are planning a special initiative to recover the remaining funds after conducting necessary verifications over the next three months.

The DGP also revealed that they have gathered information on 20,387 bank accounts linked to these cybercrime incidents in Tripura.