Bank of Maharashtra staff, 2 others held for ‘illegal possession’ of bank cash amounting to Rs 2 cr
Pune city police have arrested three persons, including a Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) employee, for allegedly carrying cash amounting to Rs 2 crore for “malicious purposes”.
Police have identified the accused as Amol Kanchar (45) of Sambhaji Nagar, Santosh Mahajan (43) of Nashik, and Suresh Ravale (34) of Manchar in Pune district.
BoM officer Amitkumar Niture lodged the FIR in the case at the Manchar police station of Pune rural police on Sunday.
As per a Pune city police press release issued on Monday, a crime branch team headed by inspector Ganesh Mane intercepted a car near the SGS Mall in Pune Camp area on Sunday after receiving information that it was carrying a huge amount of fake currency. During searches, cops recovered two bags from the car carrying a total of Rs 2 crore in cash. Police said the cash was not fake and was found in bundles of original currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 denomination.
Cops nabbed the three persons who were sitting inside the car.
Probe revealed that accused Ravale worked as deputy manager at the currency chest of the BoM, Manchar branch. Police said Ravale allegedly misused his position to illegally remove the cash from the bank. Police said it was learnt during investigation that Ravale and other accused were planning to hand over the cash to some private company, which would then transfer the amount along with an additional sum through RTGS as donation into the account of Kanchar Foundation — a charitable trust belonging to accused Amol Kanchar. Police said the accused had planned to then transfer Rs 2 crore from the trust’s account to BoM, Manchar branch, and later divide the additional amount of money among themselves.
Probe revealed that Kanchar allegedly decided to use his share of money for construction of a building for his education institute with the help of Mahajan, police said. Police confirmed that money procured by accused Ravale was from the cash stock meant to be supplied to 26 BoM branches and other banks.
Police have booked the three accused persons under sections 408 and 409, which deal with criminal breach of trust, along with 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
