A man allegedly created a fake death certificate in the name of his older brother to get the shares purchased by him transferred in his own name and liquidate it for Rs 85,000, police said.
Both brothers run bedding stores on either side of Lenin Sarani in central Kolkata and were not on talking terms, the police said.
The 60-year-old elder brother, Jagabandhu Daw, a resident of central Kolkata, is said to have realised the fraud almost two years after it was apparently committed when he found that he was not getting dividends from the shares he had purchased.
Based on his complaint with Hare Street police station, cops started a probe.
The police on Thursday said that his younger brother, Aurobindo Daw, 58, a resident of Doctor’s Lane in Taltala, had allegedly prepared a fake death certificate in the name of his brother, produced it before the finance company and made a ‘death claim’ of the shares that was in name of the elder brother.
“The offence was committed in 2018. Aurobindo Daw had liquidated the shares and got Rs 85,000,” said an officer in central division.
The police on Tuesday night arrested Aurobindo Daw and produced him before a city court on Wednesday.
He has been remanded in police custody for four days, the police said.
Investigators said they have found out that the Daws are four brothers. One of them has passed away.
Aurobindo — the youngest of the four, lives with the eldest brother in their ancestral house in Taltala while Jagabandhu, who is the second of the four brothers, lives alone.
“It was apparent that no one in the family was aware that Aurobindo had taken out a fake death certificate in the name of his brother who was very much alive and running a bedding store very close to his own shop,” said an officer.
Aurobindo Daw has been booked under charges of cheating, criminal breach of trust and forgery. The police said they were examining the role of those who had assisted in the commission of the offence.
The Telegraph could not contact the Daw family for their reaction to the arrest or the charges levelled by the police.
