May 7: A five-member gang involved in a racket of forged demand drafts was busted in Ulhasnagar by Vithalwadi police on Sunday. Nearly 42 bagfuls of bogus DDs and some computer equipment were seized.

The racket in the Ulhasnagar-IV branch of Punjab National Bank came to light when an unidentified person deposited a demand draft for Rs 2.50 lakh in the current account of M/s Sital Textile on April 22, revealed the branch manager, K Damodaran.

Assistant manager, K A Krishnan, noticed that the endorsement on the DD was forged. He later forwarded it to the bank's central office in Mumbai for further investigation. The Mumbai office confirmed the forgery, since the bank details differed from that of the forged DD and instructed the Ulhasnagar branch to stop payment and file a criminal case with Vithalwadi police. Following this, Police Inspector R S Pote and police sub-inspector Suresh Khopade raided a hideout in Ulhasnagar on May 4 and arrested a printer and some computer operators and seized equipment including a personal computer and an off-set printing machine. The police have filed a case under IPC sections 468, 511 and 420 and further investigation is on.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.