Umesh Kumar Singh in police net in Patna on Sunday. Picture by Jai Prakash

Patna, June 5: A member of an Uttar Pradesh-based gang, involved in stealing cheque books and withdrawing money, was arrested in the state capital today.

Pappu Kumar, a resident of Bhagwat Nagar area in Kumhrar under Agamkuan police station, had lodged a complaint at Patliputra police station on May 2 saying that Rs 9.87 lakh had disappeared from his State Bank of India (SBI), Doctors’ Colony branch account.

Patna City superintendent of police Shivdeep Lande said the man had checked his account on May 2 to find the money missing.

“The police contacted the SBI branch to get more information on the case. After investigations, it came to light that the money had been transferred to the account of one Umesh Kumar Singh, a resident of Mirzapur district in Uttar Pradesh,” the officer said.

The money from Pappu’s account was transferred in two attempts. On April 30, Rs 2 lakh was credited into the account of Singh and on May 1, Rs 7.87 lakh was transferred into his account again.

Following investigations, Umesh was arrested from Patna Junction area today.

“The man was in Patna and we got a tip-off about him through his mobile phone number. The Uttar Pradesh police were also contacted. The man was arrested after police checked his mobile phone tower location. When interrogated, he spilled the beans,” the officer said.

When interrogated, Umesh disclosed the names of three associates, Tanuwar Ali, a resident of Mirzapur, Shailendra Rai hailing from Varanasi and Arvind Rai, a resident of Gazipur.

“Umesh and Shailendra used to operate in Patna and they used to move around in different places, especially near banks looking for cheque books. There are many who keep their cheque books in cars or other places. Some leave their cheque book in the bank counters by mistake. Also, there are people who have blank and signed cheque books with them. Their motive was to look out for such people and target them. They used to take the signed cheques, put an amount and their names and transfer the amount into their account,” the City SP said.

Sources said the gang used to operate in different states.

“The account of Umesh reflected an amount exceeding Rs 40 lakh. The man is being interrogated for further information and the gang members are being searched. All of them are absconding at the moment,” the officer added.

Recently, four members of a gang based in Katihar, who used to loiter around banks and target people on the way after they had withdrawn money, were arrested. The men had snatched big amounts from couples on two occasions in the state capital.

The police have planned to form a special team of policemen in civil clothes to detain people moving around banks aimlessly.

Their main duty will be to patrol different areas around banks in every two to three days interval and keep an eye on suspicious people. Once caught, the police will be questioning them about their motives and people will be taken into custody if the police find anything suspicious. People detained will have to go through a background check.