Police in Jhapa Arrest Gang Involved in Organized Forgery and Fraud Scheme Using Fake Documents and Currency Stacks

Jhapa. Police in Jhapa have apprehended a large gang involved in an organized fraud operation using forged government seals and signatures. Six Indian nationals and one Nepali citizen were arrested along with two luxury Indian vehicles from the Airport-Ghodamara road section of Bhadrapur Municipality Ward No. 8.

The gang was busted when a team from the Armed Police Force inspected two vehicles, a Toyota Fortuner with license plate WB 06 X 0300 and a Suzuki Baleno with license plate WB 06 U 3006, traveling from Chandragadhi towards Kakarbhitta, finding them in a suspicious condition.

Among those arrested, a fake registration certificate from the Inland Revenue Department, a tax clearance certificate, documents from the Customs Department, and a stamp pad bearing the seal of the Government of Nepal were recovered from Arindam Dhar. A fake identity card identifying Suman Sarkar as a Police Senior Sub-Inspector (ASI) of the Nepal Police, issued in the name of Sanjay Kumar Giri, was also found in the possession of one of the gang members, Suman Sarkar.

Method of Fraud: The Game of Turning Bundles of Paper into Dollars and Currency
According to the preliminary investigation by the police, this gang planned to defraud people by staging a drama involving seized black money or large amounts of legitimate funds. They would create 237 bundles of plain paper cut to the size of currency notes, placing real currency only on the top and bottom layers, and then take photos and videos to lure people.

They had shot a video a month and a half ago at a hotel in Mechinagar-4, placing these bundles of paper in 21 tin boxes. By showing this video, they were found to be trapping businessmen by claiming that their large sum of money had been seized by the Government of Nepal, and that the funds would be released after paying a penalty, promising huge profits if they invested some money now.

Those arrested include Arindam Dhar (45 years), Deepa Bhowmik (36 years), Suman Sarkar (35 years), Nur Kalam Sheikh (37 years), Abed Ali Hossain (52 years), and Faruk Azmi (20 years) from West Bengal, India. Along with them, 43-year-old Devendra Sapkota, a resident of Kamal Rural Municipality-6, Jhapa, was also arrested.
According to Police Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Khagendra Bahadur Khadka, Information Officer at the District Police Office Jhapa, the arrested individuals had been running such scams in the border areas of Nepal and India for a long time. They had also planned to get the forged documents certified by a Notary Public to make them appear genuine.

The police have requested any individuals defrauded by this gang to immediately contact the District Police Office, Jhapa. Further investigation and legal proceedings against all arrested individuals are underway under the offense related to documents (forgery) as per the Muluki Criminal Code, 2074.