Calcutta, Oct. 26: A lawyer was arrested today for allegedly forging the signature of a Calcutta High Court advocate and asking his girlfriend to withdraw Rs 4.75 lakh from the advocate’s account.

Bank officials smelt a rat when a woman used a self-addressed cheque to withdraw Rs 4.75 lakh from a man’s account. She was immediately taken for questioning and police informed.

Based on a bank complaint, Soumya Banerjee, 27, and Shubha Mukherjee, 22, were arrested on charges of forgery, cheating and criminal conspiracy.

“We received a complaint from UBI, Calcutta High Court branch, that a woman had illegally tried to withdraw cash from a client’s account. Investigation revealed her boyfriend was the mastermind,” said a police officer.

Sources said Soumya had allegedly stolen a leaf from the cheque-book of his superior and forged his signature. Then he put Shubha — she wore a burqa to fox the CCTVs — on the job and waited outside the bank. But the plan backfired.